[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 228 (Tuesday, November 28, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58680-58681]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-29044]
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Copyright Office
[Docket No. 94-3 CARP-CD 90-92]
Distribution of 1990, 1991 and 1992 Cable Royalty Funds
AGENCY: Copyright Office, Library of Congress.
ACTION: Initiation of arbitration.
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SUMMARY: The Copyright Office of the Library of Congress is announcing
initiation of the 180 day arbitration period for the distribution of
1990-92 cable compulsory license royalties.
EFFECTIVE DATE: December 4, 1995.
ADDRESSES: All hearings and meetings for the 1990-92 cable distribution
[[Page 58681]]
proceeding shall take place in the James Madison Memorial Building,
Room 414, First and Independence Avenue, SE., Washington, D.C. 20540.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marilyn J. Kretsinger, Acting General
Counsel or William Roberts, Senior Attorney for Compulsory Licenses,
Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel (CARP), P.O. Box 70977, Southwest
Station, Washington, D.C. 20024. Telephone: (202) 707-8380. Telefax:
(202) 707-8366.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Section 251.72 of 37 CFR provides:
If the Librarian determines that a controversy exists among the
claimants to either cable, satellite carrier, or digital audio
recording devices and media royalties, the Librarian shall publish
in the Federal Register a declaration of controversy along with a
notice of initiation of an arbitration proceeding. Such notice
shall, to the extent feasible, describe the nature, general
structure and schedule of the proceeding.
The notice published today fulfills the requirements of Sec. 251.72 for
the distribution of cable compulsory license royalties for the years
1990-92.
On December 15, 1994, the Copyright Office published a notice in
the Federal Register requesting comment as to the existence of
controversies to the distribution of the 1990 cable royalty fund, 59 FR
64714 (December 15, 1994). In response to this notice, copyright owners
identified the existence of controversies for distribution of the 1990
fund, as well as the 1991 and 1992 funds. The copyright owners
requested that the Office consolidate the 1990-92 funds into a single
distribution proceeding.
On March 21, 1995, the Office published a notice consolidating the
1990-1992 cable royalty funds into a single distribution proceeding,
and announced the precontroversy discovery schedule, 60 FR 14971 (March
21, 1995). The Office also announced in that notice that controversies
to the 1990-92 cable royalty funds would be declared, and arbitration
initiated, on November 17, 1995, 60 FR at 14975.
In order to prepare for the commencement of proceedings, and to
afford the cable royalty claimants the full use of the prescribed 180
days for arbitration, the Copyright Office has completed the selection
of the arbitrators in accordance with 17 U.S.C. 802. The arbitrators
for the 1990-92 cable distribution proceeding are:
The Honorable Mel R. Jiganti, Chairperson
The Honorable John B. Farmakides
The Honorable Ronald P. Wertheim
These arbitrators have signed their agreements to serve in the
proceeding and have, pursuant to agreement by the cable claimants,
begun background work in preparation for the commencement of the
proceeding.
II. Joint Motion to Defer Commencement
On November 8, 1995, the parties to the proceeding filed a joint
motion requesting a delay in the initiation of proceedings to December
29, 1995. They cited as their reasons: the time needed to produce the
volume of discovery documents their motions to compel have generated;
the time needed to evaluate the data contained in those discovery
documents; the time needed to amend their direct cases in response to
the granting of JSC's motion to add an additional issue to the
proceeding; the potential for additional motions to be filed if
discovery documents are not furnished as ordered; the difficulty of
scheduling witnesses during the holidays and the loss of working days
due to the holidays; the concern that the 180 day period will not be
sufficient unless actual testimony begins on the heels of the
initiation of the proceeding after all preliminary matters have been
resolved; and a desire to have the mechanics of paying the arbitrators
worked out before the initiation of proceedings.
The Copyright Office partially granted the joint motion to allow a
delay to December 4, 1995, of the initiation of the 1990-92 cable
royalty distribution proceeding in an Order dated November 13, 1995.
See Order in Docket No. 94-3 CARP-CD 90-92 (November 13, 1995). In
issuing its ruling, the Office noted in the Order that it engaged the
services of the arbitrators on the basis of a starting date the parties
themselves agreed to last spring and that any extension of the starting
date would require amending the arbitrator's contracts and
consideration of their loss of time to do other work. The Office
therefore concluded that the six week delay requested by the parties
would work a hardship on it and the arbitrators and decided that a
December 4 commencement date was more appropriate. Id.
III. Initiation of Proceeding
Pursuant to Sec. 251.72 of the CARP rules, the Copyright Office of
the Library of Congress is formally announcing the existence of Phase I
controversies to the distribution of cable compulsory license royalties
for 1990, 1991 and 1992, and is initiating an arbitration proceeding
under chapter 8 of title 17 to resolve the distribution of those funds.
The arbitration proceeding commences on December 4, 1995, and runs for
a period of 180 days, by which time the arbitrators shall make their
report to the Librarian of Congress by June 1, 1996 in accordance with
Sec. 251.53 of the rules.
A meeting between the copyright claimants participating in the
distribution proceeding and the arbitrators shall take place at 10 a.m.
on Monday, December 4, 1995, at the above described address to discuss
the hearing schedule, arbitrator billing and payment, and any other
necessary procedural matters. The meeting is open to the public. Copies
of the hearing schedule, once finalized, will be available at the
Copyright Office upon request.
Dated: November 21, 1995.
Marybeth Peters,
Register of Copyrights.
Approved by:
James H. Billington,
The Librarian of Congress.
[FR Doc. 95-29044 Filed 11-27-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1410-33-P
