84 FR 435 - Notice of Intent To Audit

The U.S. Copyright Office is announcing receipt of five notices of intent to audit certain statements of account filed by cable operators and a satellite carrier pursuant to the section 111 and 119 statutory licenses.

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 18 (Monday, January 28, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 435-436]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2019-00226]


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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

U.S. Copyright Office

[Docket No. 2019-1]


Notice of Intent To Audit

AGENCY: U.S. Copyright Office, Library of Congress.

ACTION: Public notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Copyright Office is announcing receipt of five 
notices of intent to audit certain statements of account filed by cable 
operators and a satellite carrier pursuant to the section 111 and 119 
statutory licenses.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Regan A. Smith, General Counsel and 
Associate Register of Copyrights, by email at [email protected], or 
Anna Chauvet, Assistant General Counsel, by email at 
[email protected]. Either can be contacted by telephone by calling 
(202) 707-8350.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Sections 111 and 119 of the Copyright Act (``Act''), title 17 of 
the United States Code, establish compulsory licenses under which cable 
operators and satellite carriers may, by complying with the license 
terms, retransmit copyrighted over-the-air broadcast programming. Among 
other requirements, cable and satellite licensees must file statements 
of account and deposit royalty fees with the U.S. Copyright Office 
(``Office'') on a semi-annual basis.

[[Page 436]]

    The Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act of 2010,\1\ 
amended the Act by directing the Register of Copyrights (``Register'') 
to issue regulations to allow copyright owners to audit the statements 
of account and royalty fees that cable operators and satellite carriers 
file with the Office.\2\ Following a lengthy rulemaking proceeding, the 
Office issued such regulations, adopting the audit process now set 
forth in 37 CFR 201.16.\3\ Section 201.16(c)(1) requires any copyright 
owner who intends to audit a statement of account to provide written 
notice to the Register no later than three years after the last day of 
the year in which the statement of account was filed with the 
Office.\4\ Such notice may be submitted by an individual copyright 
owner or a designated agent that represents a group or multiple groups 
of copyright owners.\5\ The notice must be received in the Office on or 
after December 1st and no later than December 31st.\6\ Between January 
1st and January 31st of the next calendar year, the Office will publish 
a notice in the Federal Register announcing the receipt of the notice 
of intent to audit.\7\
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    \1\ Public Law 111-175, sec. 102(d.)(4), Stat. 1220 (2010).
    \2\ See 17 U.S.C. 111(d)(6) (directing the Register to ``issue 
regulations to provide for the confidential verification by 
copyright owners whose works were embodied in the secondary 
transmissions of primary transmissions pursuant to [section 111] of 
the information reported on the semiannual statements of account 
filed under this subsection for accounting periods beginning on or 
after January 1, 2010, in order that the auditor designated under 
subparagraph [111(d)(6)(A)] is able to confirm the correctness of 
the calculations and royalty payments reported therein''); 17 U.S.C. 
119(b)(2) (directing the Register to ``issue regulations to permit 
interested parties to verify and audit the statements of account and 
royalty fees submitted by satellite carriers under this 
subsection'').
    \3\ See 79 FR 68623 (Nov. 18, 2014).
    \4\ 37 CFR 201.16(c)(1).
    \5\ Id.
    \6\ Id.
    \7\ Id.
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II. Notices

    On December 31, 2018, the Office received the below notices of 
intent to audit statements of account. The notices were submitted 
jointly by the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, National 
Football League, National Basketball Association, Women's National 
Basketball Association, National Hockey League, and National Collegiate 
Athletics Association pursuant to 37 CFR 201.16(c):
    1. Notice of intent to audit the statement of account filed by 
Southern New England Telephone Co. for the cable system serving 
Hartford, Connecticut and the surrounding area (Licensing Division No. 
62793), for the accounting period July 1-December 31, 2014.
    2. Notice of intent to audit the statement of account filed by 
Verizon Pennsylvania LLC for the cable system serving Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania and the surrounding area (Licensing Division No. 62715), 
for the accounting period July 1-December 31, 2014.
    3. Notice of intent to audit the statement of account filed by Cox 
Communications Louisiana, LLC for the cable system serving Baton Rouge, 
Louisiana and the surrounding area (Licensing Division No. 011484), for 
the accounting period January 1-June 30, 2016.
    4. Notice of intent to audit the statement of account filed by CSC 
Holdings, LLC d/b/a Altice USA, Inc., for the cable system serving 
Avon-By-The-Sea (Avon Borough), New Jersey and the surrounding area 
(Licensing Division No. 007823), for the accounting period July 1-
December 31, 2017.
    5. Notice of intent to audit the statement of account filed by Dish 
Network, LLC for the accounting period January 1-June 30, 2017.

    Dated: January 22, 2019.
Regan A. Smith,
General Counsel and Associate Register of Copyrights.
[FR Doc. 2019-00226 Filed 1-25-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 1410-30-P