[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 195 (Monday, October 7, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52465-52467]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-25345]
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Copyright Office
[Docket No. 96-5]
Publication of Catalog of Copyright Entries
AGENCY: Copyright Office, Library of Congress.
ACTION: Notice of policy decision.
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SUMMARY: Under section 707(a) of the Copyright Act, the Copyright
Office is directed to publish a catalog of copyright entries at
periodic intervals. The Copyright Office has determined that this
statutory obligation is satisfied by electronic publication of
copyright information over the Internet. For this reason, the Copyright
Office is discontinuing its publication of microfiche copies of the
Catalog of Copyright Entries.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 7, 1996.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kent Dunlap, Principal Legal Advisor
to the General Counsel's Office, Copyright GC/I&R, P.O. Box 70400,
Southwest Station, Washington, D.C. 20024. Telephone: (202) 707-8380.
Telefax: (202) 707-8366.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The 1891 Copyright Act initiated a Catalog of Copyright Entries
(CCE). The purpose of the catalog was to provide a means for customs
officers to prevent importation of pirated copyrighted works. The 1891
Act split responsibility for publishing the catalog between the
Librarian of Congress and the Secretary of the Treasury. Copyright Act
of 1891, sec. 4, 26 Stat. 1106, 1108 (1891).
The catalog did not provide an efficient means for customs
searching; therefore, the Secretary of the Treasury saw little use in
continuing publication. The Register of Copyrights, on the other hand,
defended the publication in 1904 for a number of reasons. He reasoned
that the CCE provided a useful index to copyright businesses and the
public without recourse to the Office; a useful reference tool for the
staff of the
[[Page 52466]]
Copyright Office; a secure record against destruction by fire or other
catastrophe; and an official contemporaneous record of the country's
intellectual production. He also stated that the cost of the catalog
could be defrayed through registration fees. H.R. Doc. No. 420, 58th
Cong., 2d Sess. 6 (1904).
The 1909 Copyright Act consolidated responsibility for publication
of the catalog in the Copyright Office. Copyright Act of 1909, Pub. L.
No. 349, secs. 56, 57, 35 Stat. 1075, 1086. From 1909 to 1936, the
Copyright Office regarded the Catalog of Copyright Entries as the
primary tool for the public to conduct research on registered
copyrights since the public was not encouraged to use Office facilities
and Copyright Office staff did not conduct requested searches of any
length. During the subsequent years, there was a reduced budget for
publication of the catalog; consequently, the number of staff preparing
the catalog was reduced, and entries were shortened. However, beginning
in 1937, the Office provided a more extended search service and
reorganized the records to make searching more efficient. In 1945, a
general reorganization of the Copyright Office improved both the search
service and the content and timeliness of the catalog. Elizabeth K.
Dunne and Joseph W. Rogers, Copyright Law Revision Studies No. 21, 86th
Cong., 2d Sess., The Catalog of Copyright Entries, 59-60 (Comm. Print
1960).
Since its inception the catalog has been published as a public
service. There have always been relatively few sales, and the catalog
has been distributed free to federal depository libraries. These
libraries were largely public, university and college libraries which
were designated by Members of Congress as being entitled to receive
free government documents. Due to the number of such free
distributions, costs incurred from publishing the catalog have been
considerably larger than revenue from sales to subscribers. In 1959,
for example, 37 copies of the Books part of the CCE were sold while 359
were distributed to federal depository libraries, and 85 were given to
U.S. government agencies. Id. at 64.
II. The 1976 Copyright Revision Act
As part of the general copyright revision, the Copyright Office
conducted 34 studies for Congress on the copyright law; Study No. 21
published in 1960, was devoted to the catalog of copyright entries.
Both professional librarians and copyright practitioners commented;
commentators generally supported continuation of the publication with
some reservations. Considerations favoring continued publication
included the fact that a few individuals and organizations found the
publication to be highly useful, and alternative avenues for searching
copyright information outside of Washington were not readily available.
Reservations included acknowledgement that the publications were not
widely used by the public at large and publication appeared relatively
expensive. In conclusion, most commentators urged a ``flexible''
approach. Elizabeth K. Dunne and Joseph W. Rogers, Copyright Law
Revision Studies No. 21, 86th Cong., 2d Sess., The Catalog of Copyright
Entries, 77-81 (Comm. Print 1960).
In his report to Congress in 1961 summing up the problems to be
considered in drafting a new copyright statute, the Register of
Copyrights noted:
Only a small fraction of the cost of producing the printed
catalog is recovered from sales. In 1959, for example, the total
cost of assembling, printing, and binding the entire yearly catalog
came to about $109,000, while receipts from the year's sales totaled
slightly over $4,000. Most of the copies printed are distributed
free of charge to libraries and Government agencies.
House Comm. on the Judiciary, 87th Cong., 1st Sess., Report of the
Register of Copyrights on the General Revision of the U.S. Copyright
Law 144 (Comm. Print 1961).
During the revision process others concurred with the Register that
the rigid requirements of the 1909 Act for publication of the catalog
should be alleviated and that ``a more flexible authorization to
determine the form and frequency of publication of each part of the
catalog is highly desirable.'' Supplementary Report of the Register of
Copyrights on the General Revision of the U.S. Copyright Law: 1965
Revision Bill, 89th Cong., 1st Sess. 155 (H. Comm. Print 1965). During
the early stages of the revision process a far simpler provision
intended to encourage a more flexible approach was put forward:
(a) CATALOG OF COPYRIGHT ENTRIES.--The Register of Copyrights
shall compile and publish at periodic intervals catalogs of all
copyright registrations. These catalogs shall be divided into parts
in accordance with the various classes of works, and the Register
has discretion to determine, on the basis of practicability and
usefulness, the form and frequency of publication of each particular
part.
17 U.S.C. 707(a). This provision remained unchanged throughout the
revision process.
Congress emphasized the theme of flexibility, and even mentioned
``electronic devices'' as possibly leading to a better product in the
legislative history accompanying the 1976 revision bill. It noted:
Section 707(a) of the bill retains the present statute's basic
requirement that the Register compile and publish catalogs of all
copyright registrations at periodic intervals, but
provides''discretion to determine, on the basis of practicability
and usefulness, for the form and frequency of publication of each
particular part''. This provision will in no way diminish the
utility or value of the present catalogs, and the flexibility of
approach, coupled with use of the new mechanical and electronic
devices now becoming available, will avoid waste and result in a
better product.
S. Rep. No. 473, 94th Cong., 1st Sess. 154 (1975); H.R. Rep. No. 1476,
94th Cong., 2d Sess. 172 (1976).
III. Copyright Office Budget Constraints
Despite the authorization for continued publication of the catalog
in the copyright law, the Office has been unable to meet this
responsibility on a timely basis due to increasing budget constraints.
In 1982, the Office changed the format of publication of the catalogs
from print to microfiche and issued the eight parts of the 1979 edition
in that format. Since 1982, delays in issuing the catalog have
increased. Currently, the Office is essentially fourteen years behind;
it published the 1982 edition in microfiche in 1994 and that has been
the last issue to date.
The major cost in producing the CCE is that of creating a master
copy from which microfiche copies can be produced. The costs are
between $2,500 and $5,000 per master for each part of the catalog.
Since each year consists of eight parts, a complete edition would cost
approximately between $35,000 and $40,000. Costs for Copyright Office
staff who prepare the material for microfilming must also be
considered. In 1991, the Office estimated that it would cost over
$268,000 to publish the volumes between 1982 and 1991.
The Office has maintained the CCE volumes published so far; some of
which are identified in Circular 2, Publications on Copyright, as
available for sale. The volume of sales has been quite low. Should the
Office resume publication in print or microfiche, as many as 1500
federal depository libraries and government agencies would be entitled
to free copies. Although not all of those entitled to receive free
copies elect to receive all or any part of the catalog, a heavy
printing burden would be imposed on the Office.
IV. On-Line Availability of Copyright Registration Information
Despite the existing lengthy publication delay, there has been
little
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public comment that the CCE is not delivered on a timely basis,
indicating that relatively few people currently rely on the published
CCE to secure copyright registration information.
While the Copyright Office has maintained public records since
1870, the information has never been so readily and widely available
before. This is due to the fact that in 1994 the Copyright Office
inaugurated remote public access via Internet to its computerized
database of post 1977 copyright registration and recordation
information. Public information on how to use the registration system,
including forms and circulars, was included as part of the on-line
system.
The registration information and recorded documents which are
available over Internet are limited to Copyright Office records
produced in machine-readable form from January 1, 1978, to the present.
These include the following files: COHM, which contains all original
and renewal registrations except serials; COHD, which contains
documents; and COHS, which contains serials. Locating information
through on-line searches of the record eliminates the need to search
individual volumes of the published CCE and is, therefore, far more
efficient.
V. Conclusion
While the Copyright Office has historically been assigned the
responsibility of creating and maintaining a public record of copyright
registration information, the Office has had difficulty in serving the
needs of individuals who were unable to come to the Copyright Office.
Since the Catalog of Copyright Entries addressed this need, it
maintained some level of support within the copyright community. The
Office is now providing broad public access on a timely basis via
Internet, and there is no longer any reason for maintaining publication
of the Catalog of Copyright Entries.
Publication of the catalog has always been quite costly due to the
low volume of sales. Moreover, publication of the catalog serves
relatively few people since existence of the catalog is not widely
known, and only a few hundred copies of each edition of the catalog is
distributed. Individuals with access to the Internet, on the other
hand, number in the millions; therefore, making copyright registration
information available over the Internet is a far more efficient means
for publicly disseminating copyright registration information.
The Office has determined that the language of section 707(a) of
the Copyright Act is sufficiently flexible to authorize publishing
copyright registration information over the Internet. The legislative
history of this section emphasizes flexibility and actually mentions
``electronic devices'' as a suitable means for enhancing distribution
efficiency. For these reasons, the Copyright Office is discontinuing
publication by print or microfiche of the Catalog of Copyright Entries
and will meet its responsibilities under 17 U.S.C. 707(a) through
publication over Internet. The Office will continue to maintain the
volumes of CCE printed so far.
Dated: September 30, 1996.
Marilyn J. Kretsinger,
Acting General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 96-25345 Filed 10-4-96; 8:45 am]
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