[Federal Register: December 9, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 236)]
[Notices]
[Page 72920-72921]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr09de02-35]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
[Docket No. 2003-C-006]
Request for Written Comments and Notice of Hearings on
Technological Protection Systems for Digitized Copyrighted Works
AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce.
ACTION: Request for written comments and notice of hearings.
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SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) requests
written comments that will assist the agency in preparing a report to
Congress required by the ``Technology, Education and Copyright
Harmonization Act of 2002.'' The report will provide information to
Congress on technological protection systems for digitized copyrighted
works and to prevent infringement. The USPTO also may conduct a hearing
to obtain information for the report and requests a response from
persons interested in providing testimony.
DATES: Written comments are due at the offices of the USPTO on January
14, 2003. A hearing is tentatively scheduled for the Washington, DC
area, on February 4, 2003. Based on expressions of public interest,
additional hearings may be scheduled. Requests to testify must be
received by January 14, 2003.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and requests to testify should be addressed
to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Office of Legislative
and International Affairs, Room 902, 2121 Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA
22202, or faxed to (703) 305-8885, marked to the attention of Velica
Steadman. Written comments also may be sent via electronic mail to
teach.act@uspto.gov. A specific time and location for the proposed
hearing will be determined based on responses received from persons who
express an interest in testifying and will be posted on the USPTO's Web
site at http://www.uspto.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael S. Shapiro by telephone at
(703) 305-9300 or by electronic mail at teach.act@uspto.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Background
On November 2, 2002, the President signed into law the
``Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization Act of 2002'' (the
TEACH Act), Pub. L. 107-273, which updates certain provisions of the
Copyright Act to facilitate the growth and development of distance
education, while introducing new safeguards to limit the additional
risks to copyright owners that are inherent in exploiting works in a
digital format. As discussed more fully below, the TEACH Act requires
the USPTO to submit a report to Congress on technological protection
systems for digitized copyrighted works and to prevent infringement.
The brief discussion of the TEACH Act that follows is intended only to
provide some context for that report.
Over the last several years, the educational opportunities and
risks associated with distance education have been the subject of
extensive public debate and attention in the United States. In November
1998, the Conference on Fair Use (CONFU), convened by the
Administration's Information Infrastructure Task Force, issued its
final report, which included a proposal for educational fair use
guidelines for distance learning.\1\ In May 1999, the U.S. Copyright
Office issued an extensive report on copyright and digital distance
education.\2\ The Senate Committee on the Judiciary and the House
Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual
Property held hearings on the TEACH Act.\3\ For more detailed
information on the background and legislative history of the TEACH Act,
interested persons may wish to visit the USPTO Web site at http://www.uspto.gov
and the U.S. Copyright Office Web site at http://
www.loc.gov.
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\1\ See The Conference on Fair Use: Final Report to the
Commissioner on the Conclusion of the Conference on Fair Use (U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office, November 1998). The report is available
on-line at http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/dcom/olia/confu/confurep.htm
\2\ See Report on Copyright and Digital Distance Education: A
Report to the Register of Copyrights (U.S. Copyright Office, May
1999). The report is available at http://www.copyright.gov/disted/.
\3\ See the Report of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on
the Technology, Education and Copyright Act of 2001, S.R. Rep. No.
107-31, 107th Congress, 1st Session and the Report of the House
Committee on the Judiciary on the Technology, Education and
Copyright Act of 2001, H.R. Rep. No. 107-687, 107th Congress, 2d
Session.
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Subsection (b) of the TEACH Act amends section 110(2) of the
Copyright Act to encompass performances and displays of copyrighted
works in digital distance education under appropriate circumstances and
subject to certain limitations. The Act expands the categories of works
exempt from the performance right, from nondramatic literary works and
musical works to ``reasonable and limited portions'' of any work and
permits the display of any work in ``an amount comparable to that
typically displayed in the course of a live classroom setting.'' The
Act removes the concept of the physical classroom, while maintaining
the requirement of ``mediated instructional activity,'' which generally
requires the involvement of an instructor. The exemption is limited to
mediated instructional activities that are conducted by governmental
bodies and ``accredited'' non-profit educational institutions.
Subsection (c) of the TEACH Act amends section 112 of the Copyright Act
to permit transmitting organizations to store copyrighted material on
their servers in order to allow the performances and displays of works
authorized under amended section 110(2).
The TEACH Act contains a number of new safeguards to limit the
additional risks to copyright owners that are inherent in using works
in the digital format. Section 110(2)(C) limits the receipt of
authorized transmissions, ``to the extent technologically feasible,''
to students officially enrolled in the course or to Government
employees as part of their official duties. Section 110(2)(D)(ii)
requires transmitting institutions to apply technological measures that
``reasonably prevent retention of the work in accessible form by
recipients of the transmission * * * for longer than the class
session'' and the ``unauthorized further dissemination'' of the work.
Section 110(2)(D)(ii) also prohibits transmitting institutions from
engaging in ``conduct that could reasonably be expected to interfere''
with such technological measures.
2. Mandate for the Report
Subsection (d) of the TEACH Act requires the Under Secretary of
Commerce for Intellectual Property, after consultation with the
Register of Copyrights and after a period of public comment, to submit
to the Committees on the Judiciary of the Senate and the House of
Representatives a report on technological protection systems for
digitized copyrighted works. The report, which is intended solely to
provide information to Congress, is due not later than 180 days after
the date of enactment of the Act.
Congress specifically directed the USPTO to include information
``on
[[Page 72921]]
technological protection systems that have been implemented, are
available for implementation, or are proposed to be developed to
protect digitized copyrighted works and prevent infringement, including
upgradeable and self-repairing systems, and systems that have been
developed, are being developed, or are proposed to be developed in
private voluntary industry-led entities through an open broad based
consensus process.'' Congress also directed the USPTO to exclude ``any
recommendations, comparisons, or comparative assessments of any
commercially available products that may be mentioned in the report.''
Subsection (d) of the Act further states that the report ``shall
not be construed to affect in any way, either directly or by
implication, any provision'' of the Copyright Act in general or the
TEACH Act in particular, including the requirements of section
110(2)(D)(ii) of the TEACH Act (discussed above), or ``the
interpretation or application of such provisions, including evaluation
of the compliance with that clause by any governmental body or
nonprofit educational institution.''
Request for Written Comments
The USPTO requests that persons interested in submitting written
comments organize their comments as follows:
(1) What technological protection systems have been implemented,
are available for implementation, or are proposed to be developed to
protect digitized copyrighted works and prevent infringement, including
any upgradeable and self-repairing systems?
(2) What systems have been developed, are being developed, or are
proposed to be developed in private voluntary industry-led entities
through an open broad-based consensus process?
(3) Consistent with the types of information requested by Congress,
please provide any additional comments on technological protection
systems to protect digitized copyrighted works and prevent
infringement.
Written comments must be received by January 14, 2003, and should
be addressed to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Office
of Legislative and International Affairs, Room 902, 2121 Crystal Drive,
Arlington, VA 22202, ATTN: Velica Steadman, Office of Legislative and
International Affairs; faxed to Velica Steadman's attention at (703)
305-8885; or sent via electronic mail to teach.act@uspto.gov.
In addition, as noted above, the USPTO will schedule a hearing to
obtain information for the report on the basis of expressions of public
interest. The hearing is tentatively scheduled for the Washington, DC
area on February 4, 2003. Based on expressions of public interest,
additional hearings may be scheduled. Requests to testify must be
received by January 14, 2003. A specific time and location for the
proposed hearing will be determined based on responses received from
persons who express an interest in testifying and will be posted on
USPTO's Web site at http://www.uspto.gov.
Dated: December 3, 2002.
James E. Rogan,
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of
the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 02-31017 Filed 12-6-02; 8:45 am]
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