2014-18096. Music Licensing Study

AGENCY:

U.S. Copyright Office, Library of Congress.

ACTION:

Notice of extension of comment period.

SUMMARY:

The United States Copyright Office is extending the deadline for public comments regarding the effectiveness of existing methods of licensing music that were solicited in a July 23, 2014 Notice of Inquiry. See 79 FR 42833 (July 23, 2014).

DATES:

Written comments are now due on or before September 12, 2014.

ADDRESSES:

All comments shall be submitted electronically. A comment page containing a comment form is posted on the Office Web site at http://www.copyright.gov/​docs/​musiclicensingstudy. The Web site interface requires commenting parties to complete a form specifying their name and organization, as applicable, and to upload comments as an attachment via a browser button. To meet accessibility standards, commenting parties must upload comments in a single file not to exceed six megabytes (MB) in one of the following formats: The Portable Document File (PDF) format that contains searchable, accessible text (not an image); Microsoft Word; WordPerfect; Rich Text Format (RTF); or ASCII text file format (not a scanned document). The form and face of the comments must include both the name of the submitter and organization. The Office will post the comments publicly on the Office's Web site in the form that they are received, along with associated names and organizations. If electronic submission of comments is not feasible, please contact the Office at 202-707-8350 for special instructions.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jacqueline C. Charlesworth, General Counsel and Associate Register of Copyrights, by email at [e-mail] or by telephone at 202-707-8350; or Sarang V. Damle, Special Advisor to the General Counsel, by email at [e-mail] or by telephone at 202-707-8350.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

The U.S. Copyright Office is conducting a study to assess the effectiveness of current methods for licensing sound recordings and musical works. The Office received written comments responding to an initial Notice of Inquiry, and held three public roundtables in Nashville, Los Angeles and New York. See 78 FR 13739 (Mar. 17, 2014); 79 FR 25626 (May 5, 2014).

On July 23, 2014, the Office published a second Notice of Inquiry, seeking additional written comments on ten subjects concerning the music licensing environment. 79 FR 42833. To ensure commenters have sufficient time to address the topics set forth in the July 2014 Notice of Inquiry, the Office is extending the time for filing written comments from August 22, 2014 to September 12, 2014.

Dated: July 28, 2014.

Maria A. Pallante,

Register of Copyrights.