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U.S. Copyright Office
NewsNet

May 25, 1998
Issue 12

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For additional information, visit the Copyright Office homepage at http://www.copyright.gov.

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CONTENTS
* News*

  a. Federal Register
     1. Determination of Reasonable Rates and Terms for the Digital Performance of
        Sound Recordings (63 FR 25394)
     2. Application of the 3.75% Rate (63 FR 26756)

  b. Copyright Office
     1. Jewel Player Appointed Chief of Copyright Acquisitions Division


* Calendar*

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* NEWS *

----------------Federal Register----------------

For the complete text of Federal Register announcements, visit the Copyright Office homepage at

http://www.copyright.gov or the Government Printing Office homepage at

http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140.html.

DETERMINATION OF REASONABLE RATES AND TERMS FOR THE DIGITAL
PERFORMANCE OF SOUND RECORDINGS (63 FR 25394)
The Librarian of Congress, upon recommendation of the Register of Copyrights, is announcing
the determination of the reasonable rates and terms for the compulsory license permitting certain digital performances of sound recordings. The determination is effective as of May 8, 1998. http://www.copyright.gov/fedreg/1998/63fr25394.html

APPLICATION OF THE 3.75% RATE (63 FR 26756)
On April 30, 1997, the Copyright Office published an amendment to its rules to allow a cable
system to calculate its copyright liability for carriage of distant signals on a partially permitted/partially non-permitted basis, where applicable. Under the new rule, a cable system
will apply the current base rates and the syndicated exclusivity surcharge, where applicable, to those subscribers in communities where the signal would have been permitted on or before June 24,1981, and the 3.75% rate to those subscribers in communities where the signal would not
have been permitted before that date. Both the base rate fee and the 3.75% fee shall be applied
toward the required minimum fee. These changes, however, are not reflected clearly in the
current regulations. Therefore, the Copyright Office is proposing amendments which would
harmonize the existing regulations with the new methodology for calculating the royalty fees for carriage of partially permitted/partially non-permitted distant signals. Comments on the proposed technical amendments are due by June 15, 1998.

----------------Copyright Office----------------

JEWEL PLAYER APPOINTED CHIEF OF COPYRIGHT ACQUISITIONS DIVISION
Jewel Player was appointed chief of the Copyright Acquisitions Division effective April 27,
1998. She has more than 26 years of experience as a professional librarian and library manager.
She will manage the operations and staff of the Copyright Acquisitions Division, which is
responsible for administering the mandatory deposit provisions of Section 407 of the U.S.
Copyright law and for acquiring published works needed by the Library of Congress for its
collections.

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* CALENDAR *

May 8, 1998: Effective date of reasonable rates and terms for the compulsory license permitting certain digital performances of sound recordings.

June 15, 1998: Comments due on proposed technical amendments that would harmonize the existing
regulations with the new methodology for calculating the cable royalty fees for carriage of partially permitted/partially  non-permitted distant signals.

July 1, 1998: Effective date of policy decision changing the recordation procedure for a narrow category of multiple title documents.

July 1, 1998: Revised Chapter 1600 of the Compendium of Copyright Office Practices appears on office Website.


July 28, 1998: Arbitrators in proceeding for adjustment of rates for noncommercial educational broadcasting compulsory license will file written report with Librarian of Congress.


October 1, 1998: Public hearing on increase of statutory and other copyright fees.


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