Licensing

New Licensing Division Fees Effective March 20, 2020

The Copyright Office has adopted a new fee schedule, beginning March 20, 2020, that affects fees throughout the Office, including the Licensing Division (see the Federal Register, 85 FR 9374). The fee changes affect cable, satellite, and DART filers as well as those seeking section 112 and 114 licenses. The fees for the section 115 license remain the same.

For amended statements of account filed by cable and satellite systems and digital audio recording device (DART) importers/manufacturers, the fee has been reduced to $50; however, it is important to note that the Office intends to charge that amendment fee in a wider range of circumstances. For information on the new fees for Division services, see Circular 76.

Satellite Television Community Protection and Promotion Act of 2019

Congress recently passed the Satellite Television Community Protection and Promotion Act of 2019 (“STCPPA”), which the President signed into law on December 20, 2019. This law makes permanent the satellite carrier distant broadcast signal license found in section 119 of the Copyright Act for non-network stations and for network stations transmitted to RVs and commercial trucks and to “short markets” that lack one or more of the four most widely available network stations. It removes other previously permitted uses of the license and requires that a satellite carrier provide local service in all 210 designated market areas if it wishes to utilize the section 119 license.

Attention Cable Operators: New Sports Surcharge

Beginning with the 2019/1 (January 1–June 30, 2019) accounting period (filing period July 1 to August 29, 2019), certain Form SA3 cable systems may be required to pay a separate per-program royalty (the Sports Surcharge) in addition to the requisite royalties under section 111 of the Copyright Act. The Sports Surcharge went into effect January 1, 2019, for affected cable systems after the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) Judges issued a final rule (83 FR 62714) on December 6, 2018. To learn more, see the article in our Spring-Summer 2019 issue of The Licensing Connection newsletter.

For more information about this regulation, who is affected, and how to make a Sports Surcharge payment, review the instructions here. Visit the link below to access the Sports Surcharge Addendum (Form SS) and make your royalty payment.

Orrin G. Hatch—Bob Goodlatte
Music Modernization Act

On October 11, 2018, the Orrin G. Hatch–Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act (MMA) was signed into law. Among other things, it makes significant changes to the section 115 compulsory license and makes sound recordings created before February 15, 1972, subject to the section 112 and section 114 licenses. In accordance with the new law, the Copyright Office no longer accepts section 115 notices of intention to obtain a compulsory license for making a digital phonorecord delivery of a musical work. Please visit the Office’s MMA homepage for more information.

Statutory Licensing Fiduciary Assets Financial Statements and Independent Auditors’ Report

The Library of Congress contracted with an independent public accounting firm, Cotton & Company LLP, to conduct an audit of the financial statements prepared for the fiduciary assets administered by the Copyright Office Licensing Division. The purpose of this independent audit was to provide an opinion on the fairness of the financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and to report on internal control over financial reporting and compliance with applicable laws and regulations. For more information on the results of the audit, visit the link below.