[Federal Register: June 5, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 108)]

[Notices]               

[Page 35673-35675]

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS



The United States Copyright Office



DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE



National Telecommunications and Information Administration



[Docket No. 000522150-0150-01]

RIN 0660-ZA13



 

Report to Congress Pursuant to Section 104 of the Digital 

Millennium Copyright Act



AGENCIES: The United States Copyright Office, Library of Congress; and 

the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, United 

States Department of Commerce.



ACTION: Request for public comment.



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SUMMARY: The United States Copyright Office and the National 

Telecommunications and Information Administration invite interested 

parties to submit comments on the effects of the amendments made by 

title 1 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, (``DMCA'') and the 

development of electronic commerce on the operation of sections 109 and 

117 of title 17, United States Code, and the relationship between 

existing and emerging technology and the operation of such sections.

    Section 104 of the DMCA directs the Register of Copyrights and the 

Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information of the 

Department of Commerce to submit to the Congress no later than 24 

months after the date of enactment a report evaluating the effects of 

the amendments made by title 1 of the Act and the development of 

electronic commerce and associated technology on the operation of 

sections 109 and 117 of title 17, United States Code, and the 

relationship between existing and emerging technology and the operation 

of those sections. This Federal Register Notice is intended to solicit 

comments from interested parties.



DATES: Comments must be received by August 4, 2000. Reply comments must 

be received by September 5, 2000.



ADDRESSES: The Copyright Office and the National Telecommunications and 

Information Administration invite the public to submit written comments 

in electronic form by electronic mail or on diskette. See SUPPLEMENTARY 

INFORMATION for file formats and other information about electronic 

filing.

    Comments submitted by electronic mail should be sent to both 

[email protected] and [email protected]. E-mail comments should be 

submitted as file attachments in one of the formats specified under 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION and should be sent to both the Copyright 

Office and National Telecommunications and Information Administration 

addresses.

    Comments sent by regular mail may be sent to Jesse M. Feder, Policy 

Planning Advisor, Office of Policy and International Affairs, U.S. 

Copyright Office, Copyright GC/I&R, P.O. Box 70400, Southwest Station, 

Washington, DC 20024; and Jeffrey E.M. Joyner, Senior Counsel, Office 

of Chief Counsel, National Telecommunications and Information 

Administration (NTIA), Room 4713, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th 

Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230. Paper 

submissions should include a version on diskette in one of the formats 

specified under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. Comments should be sent to 

both the Copyright Office and National Telecommunications and 

Information Administration addresses.



FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jesse M. Feder, Office of Policy and 

International Affairs, U.S. Copyright Office, Library of Congress (202) 

707-8350 and Jeffrey E.M. Joyner, National Telecommunications and 

Information Administration (202) 482-1816.



SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:



File Formats and Required Information



    Comments and reply comments may be submitted in electronic form, in 

one of the following formats:

    1. If by electronic mail: Send to ``[email protected]'' and 

``[email protected]'' a message containing the name of the person 

making the submission, his or her title and organization (if the 

submission is on behalf of an organization), mailing address, telephone 

number, telefax number (if any) and e-mail address. The message should 

also identify the document clearly as either a comment or reply 

comment. The document itself must be sent as a MIME attachment, and 

must be in a single file in either: (1) Adobe Portable Document File 

(PDF) format (preferred); (2) Microsoft Word Version 7.0 or earlier; 

(3) WordPerfect 7 or earlier; (4) Rich Text File (RTF) format; or (5) 

ASCII text file format.

    2. If by regular mail or hand delivery: Send, to the appropriate 

address listed above, two copies of the comment, each on a 3.5-inch 

write-protected diskette, labeled with the name of the person making 

the submission and, if applicable, his or her title and organization.



[[Page 35674]]



    Either the document itself or a cover letter must also include the 

name of the person making the submission, his or her title and 

organization (if the submission is on behalf of an organization), 

mailing address, telephone number, telefax number (if any) and e-mail 

address (if any). The document itself must be in a single file in 

either (1) Adobe Portable Document File (PDF) format (preferred); (2) 

Microsoft Word Version 7.0 or earlier; (3) WordPerfect Version 7 or 

earlier; (4) Rich Text File (RTF) format; or (5) ASCII text file 

format.

    3. If by print only: Anyone who is unable to submit a comment in 

electronic form should submit an original and two paper copies by hand 

or by mail to the appropriate address listed above. It may not be 

feasible for the Copyright Office and the National Telecommunications 

and Information Administration to place these comments on their 

respective websites.



Background



    On October 28, 1998, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act 

(``DMCA'') was enacted into law (Pub. L. No. 105-304, 112 Stat. 2860). 

Section 104 of the DMCA directs the Register of Copyrights and the 

Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information of the 

Department of Commerce to submit to the Congress no later than 24 

months after the date of enactment a report evaluating the effects of 

the amendments made by title 1 of the Act and the development of 

electronic commerce and associated technology on the operation of 

sections 109 and 117 of title 17, United States Code, and the 

relationship between existing and emerging technology and the operation 

of those sections. This Federal Register Notice is intended to solicit 

comments from interested parties on those issues.

    The objective of title I of the DMCA was to revise U.S. law to 

comply with two World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) 

Treaties that were concluded in 1996 and to strengthen protection for 

copyrighted works in electronic formats. The DMCA establishes 

prohibitions on the act of circumventing technological measures that 

effectively control access to a work protected under the U.S. Copyright 

Act, and the manufacture, importation, offering to the public, 

providing or otherwise trafficking in any technology, product, service, 

device, component or part thereof which is primarily designed or 

produced to circumvent a technological measure that effectively 

controls access to or unauthorized copying of a work protected by 

copyright, has only a limited commercially significant purpose or use 

other than circumvention of such measures, or is marketed for use in 

circumventing such measures. The DMCA also makes it illegal for a 

person to manufacture, import, offer to the public, provide, or 

otherwise traffic in any technology, product, service, device, 

component or part thereof which is primarily designed or produced to 

circumvent a technological measure that effectively protects a right of 

a copyright owner in a work protected by copyright, has only a limited 

commercially significant purpose or use other than circumvention of 

such measures, or is marketed for use in circumventing such measures. 

In addition the DMCA prohibits, among other actions, intentional 

removal or alteration of copyright management information and knowing 

addition of false copyright management information if these acts are 

done with intent to induce, enable, facilitate or conceal a copyright 

infringement. Each prohibition is subject to a number of statutory 

exceptions.

    Section 109 of the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. 109, permits the owner 

of a particular copy or phonorecord lawfully made under title 17 to 

sell or otherwise dispose of possession of that copy or phonorecord 

without the authority of the copyright owner, notwithstanding the 

copyright owner's exclusive right of distribution under 17 U.S.C. 

106(3). Commonly referred to as the ``first sale doctrine,'' this 

provision permits such activities as the sale of used books. The first 

sale doctrine is subject to limitations that permit a copyright owner 

to prevent the unauthorized commercial rental of computer programs and 

sound recordings.

    Section 117 of the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. 117, permits the owner 

of a copy of a computer program to make a copy or adaptation of the 

program for archival purposes or as an essential step in the 

utilization of the program in conjunction with a machine. In addition, 

pursuant to an amendment contained in title III of the DMCA, section 

117 permits the owner or lessee of a machine to make a temporary copy 

of a computer program if such copy is made solely by virtue of the 

activation of a machine that lawfully contains an authorized copy of 

the computer program, for purposes of maintenance or repair of that 

machine.



Specific Questions



    The United States Copyright Office and the National 

Telecommunications and Information Administration of the United States 

Department of Commerce seek comment on the following specific 

questions. Parties need not address all questions, but are encouraged 

to respond to those for which they have particular knowledge or 

information.

1. Section 109

    (a) What effect, if any, has the enactment of prohibitions on 

circumvention of technological protection measures had on the operation 

of the first sale doctrine?

    (b) What effect, if any, has the enactment of prohibitions on 

falsification, alteration or removal of copyright management 

information had on the operation of the first sale doctrine?

    (c) What effect, if any, has the development of electronic commerce 

and associated technology had on the operation of the first sale 

doctrine?

    (d) What is the relationship between existing and emergent 

technology, on one hand, and the first sale doctrine, on the other?

    (e) To what extent, if any, is the first sale doctrine related to, 

or premised on, particular media or methods of distribution?

    (f) To what extent, if any, does the emergence of new technologies 

alter the technological premises (if any) upon which the first sale 

doctrine is established?

    (g) Should the first sale doctrine be expanded in some way to apply 

to digital transmissions? Why or why not?

    (h) Does the absence of a digital first sale doctrine under present 

law have any measurable effect (positive or negative) on the 

marketplace for works in digital form?

1. Section 117

    (a) What effect, if any, has the enactment of prohibitions on 

circumvention of technological protection measures had on the operation 

of section 117?

    (b) What effect, if any, has the enactment of prohibitions on 

falsification, alteration or removal of copyright management 

information had on the operation of section 117?

    (c) What effect, if any, has the development of electronic commerce 

and associated technology had on the operation of section 117?

    (d) What is the relationship between existing and emergent 

technology, on one hand, and section 117, on the other?

    (e) To what extent, if any, is section 117 related to, or premised 

on, any particular technology?

    (f) To what extent, if any, does the emergence of new technologies 

alter the technological premises (if any) upon which section 117 is 

established?



[[Page 35675]]



2. General

    (a) Are there any additional issues that should be considered? If 

so, what are they and what are your views on them?

    (b) Do you believe that hearings would be useful in preparing the 

required report to Congress? If so, do you wish to participate in any 

hearings?

    Information collected from responses to this Federal Register 

Notice will be considered when preparing the required report for 

Congress.



    Dated: May 16, 2000.

Marybeth Peters,

Register of Copyrights, United States Copyright Office.

Kathy D. Smith,

Chief Counsel, National Telecommunications and Information 

Administration.

[FR Doc. 00-14001 Filed 6-2-00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 1410-30-P