PScript5.dll Version 5.2.2 2010-02-01T16:15:04-05:00 2010-02-01T16:07:31-05:00 2010-02-01T16:15:04-05:00 xml Freedom of Information Act Report 2009 U.S. Copyright Office FOIA copyright Acrobat Distiller 8.1.0 (Windows) FOIA, copyright uuid:ea853d00-3378-4e41-b5b2-bb90116abb98 uuid:1c059d8d-0ffe-4d05-a65e-b3054e379126

U.S. COPYRIGHT OFFICE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT ANNUAL REPORT

FISCAL YEAR 2009

I. BASIC INFORMATION REGARDING REPORT

1. Contacts for questions about this Report:

Peter Vankevich FOIA Public Liaison Public Information Office Telephone: (202) 707-0600 FAX: (202) 707-6859

Renée Coe Senior Attorney Advisor Office of the General Counsel Telephone: (202) 707-8380 FAX: (202) 707-8366

Mailing address: FOIA GC/I&R

P.O. Box 70400 Washington, D.C. 20024

2. Internet address for a copy of this Report: http://www.copyright.gov/foia

3. To request a copy of this Report: Contact Peter Vankevich, FOIA Public Liaison, at the address or telephone number shown above.

II. MAKING A FOIA REQUEST

1. Individual agency components that receive FOIA requests: The Copyright Office (CO) has a single component for receiving and processing FOIA requests. The address is: Supervisory Copyright Information Specialist, Copyright Office, GC/I&R, P.O. Box 70400, Washington, DC 20024.

2. Brief explanation for why some requests are not granted and overview of certain general categories of the agency’s records to which FOIA exemptions apply:

LOC Records. Although the Copyright Office (CO) is a service unit of the Library of Congress (LOC), it functions independently with respect to FOIA because LOC is not subject to FOIA. However, as a courtesy, CO forwards requests for LOC records to LOC. This is the address to request records directly from LOC: Chief, Office Systems Services (OSS), Library of Congress, 101 Independence Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20540-9440.

Records Protected by Copyright. Under Exemption 3, CO will not provide copies of records that have copyright protection without an owner’s permission, as required by copyright law, unless the release is permissible under the fair use doctrine. See, 17 U.S.C. § 106(1) and (3) and § 107. CO will inform requesters when records are being withheld entirely or in part on this basis and identify what records are being withheld.

Deposits/Deposit Material. Another type of record withheld under Exemption 3 because of copyright law is a unique type of registration record that is deposited with CO to identify copyright claims for registered works. These records are typically reproductions of the works and are usually referred to as “deposits” or “deposit material.” Therefore, consistent with an owner’s exclusive right to copy or reproduce a protected work, copyright law mandates that CO may only authorize or furnish copies or reproductions of deposit materials if the governing regulations at 37 CFR§ 201.2(d)(2) are satisfied. 17 U.S.C. § 706(b). Section 201.2(d)(2) establishes the criteria for limited circumstances in which copies of deposit materials will be provided by the Copyright Office.

III. ACRONYMS, DEFINITIONS, AND EXEMPTIONS

1. Agency-specific acronyms or terms used in this Report.

a. CO: U.S. Copyright Office

b. LOC: Library of Congress

2. Following are definitions of terms that appear in this Report:

a. Administrative Appeal – a request to a federal agency asking that it review at a higher administrative level a FOIA determination made by the agency at the initial request level.

b. Average Number – the number obtained by dividing the sum of a group of numbers by the quantity of numbers in the group. For example, of 3, 7, and 14, the average number is 8.

c. Backlog – the number of requests or administrative appeals that are pending at an agency at the end of the fiscal year that are beyond the statutory time period for a response.

d. Component – for agencies that process requests on a decentralized basis, a “component” is an entity, also sometimes referred to as an Office, Division, Bureau, Center, or Directorate, within the agency that processes FOIA requests. The FOIA now requires that agencies include in their Annual FOIA Report data for both the agency overall and for each principal component of the agency.

e.	Consultation – the procedure whereby the agency responding to a FOIA
	request first forwards a record to another agency for its review because
	that other agency has an interest in the document. Once the agency in
	receipt of the consultation finishes its review of the record, it responds
	back to the agency that forwarded it. That agency, in turn, will then
	respond to the FOIA requester.
f.	Exemption 3 Statute – a federal statute that exempts information from
	disclosure and which the agency relies on to withhold information under
	subsection (b)(3) of the FOIA.
g.	FOIA Request – a FOIA request is generally a request to a federal agency
	for access to records concerning another person (i.e., a “third-party”
	request), or concerning an organization, or a particular topic of interest.
	FOIA requests also include requests made by requesters seeking records
	concerning themselves (i.e., “first-party” requests) when those requesters
	are not subject to the Privacy Act, such as non-U.S. citizens. Moreover,
	because all first-party requesters should be afforded the benefit of both the
	access provisions of the FOIA as well as those of the Privacy Act, FOIA
	requests also include any first-party requests where an agency determines
	that it must search beyond its Privacy Act “systems of records” or where a
	Privacy Act exemption applies, and the agency looks to FOIA to afford
	the greatest possible access. All requests which require the agency to
	utilize the FOIA in responding to the requester are included in this Report.
	Additionally, a FOIA request includes records referred to the agency for
	processing and direct response to the requester. It does not, however,
	include records for which the agency has received a consultation from
	another agency. (Consultations are reported separately in Section XII of
	this Report.)
h.	Full Grant – an agency decision to disclose all records in full in response
	to a FOIA request.
i.	Full Denial – an agency decision not to release any records in response to
	a FOIA request because the records are exempt in their entireties under
	one or more of the FOIA exemptions, or because of a procedural reason,
	such as when no records could be located.
j.	Median Number – the middle, not average, number. For example, of 3,
	7, and 14, the median number is 7.
k.	Multi-Track Processing – a system in which simple requests requiring
	relatively minimal review are placed in one processing track and more
	voluminous and complex requests are placed in one or more other tracks.
	Requests granted expedited processing are placed in yet another track.
	Requests in each track are processed on a first in/first out basis.
	i. Expedited Processing – an agency will
	process a FOIA request on an expedited
	basis when a requester satisfies the

requirements for expedited processing as set forth in the statute and in agency regulations.

ii. Simple Request – a FOIA. request that an agency using multitrack processing places in its fastest (non-expedited) track based on the low volume and/or simplicity of the records requested.

iii. Complex Request – a FOIA request that an agency using multi-track processing places in a slower track based on the high volume and/or complexity of the records requested.

l. Partial Grant/Partial Denial – in response to a FOIA request, an agency decision to disclose portions of the records and to withhold other portions that are exempt under the FOIA, or to otherwise deny a portion of the request for a procedural reason.

m. Pending Request or Pending Administrative Appeal – a request or administrative appeal for which an agency has not taken final action in all respects.

n. Perfected Request – a request for records which reasonably describes such records and is made in accordance with published rules stating the time, place, fees (if any) and procedures to be followed.

o. Processed Request or Processed Administrative Appeal – a request or administrative appeal for which an agency has taken final action in all respects.

p. Range in Number of Days – the lowest and highest number of days to process requests or administrative appeals.

q. Time Limits – the time period in the statute for an agency to respond to a FOIA request (ordinarily twenty working days from receipt of a perfected FOIA request).

3. Following are concise descriptions of the nine FOIA exemptions:

a. Exemption 1: Classified national defense and foreign relations information.

b. Exemption 2: Internal agency rules and practices.

c. Exemption 3: Information that is prohibited from disclosure by another federal law.

d. Exemption 4: Trade secrets and other confidential business information.

e. Exemption 5: Inter-agency or intra-agency communications that are protected by legal privileges.

f. Exemption 6: Information involving matters of personal privacy.

g. Exemption 7: Records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, to the extent that the production of those records

(A) could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings,

(B) would deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication,

(D) could reasonably be expected to disclose the identity of a confidential source,

(E) would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, or would disclose guidelines for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, or

(F) could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual.

h. Exemption 8: Information relating to the supervision of financial institutions.

i. Exemption 9: Geological information on wells.

IV. EXEMPTION 3 STATUTES

Statute	Type of Information Withheld	Case Citation	per Component Number of Time	Total Number of Times Relied upon by Agency
None this FY*

*In general, see part II.2.

V. FOIA REQUESTS

A. Received, Processed and Pending Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Column 4

	Number of Requests Pending as of Start of Fiscal Year	Number of Requests Received in Fiscal Year	Number of Requests Processed in Fiscal Year	Number of Requests Pending as of End of Fiscal Year
AGENCY OVERALL	10*	31	32	9**

*These ten requests were suspended for administrative reasons, including because the requesters had not paid required fees or had not provided additional information that was requested. The requesters were each notified this fiscal year that their cases would be closed for lack of activity unless a response was received that permits further processing. None of them responded.

** Seven of these requests were closed in the first quarter of the next fiscal year.

B. (1) Disposition of FOIA Requests – All Processed Requests

	Number of Full Grants	Number of Partial Grants/ Partial Denials	Number of Full Denials Based on Exemptions	Number of Full Denials Based on Reasons Other than Exemptions
				No Records	All Records Referred to Another Component or Agency	Request Withdrawn	Fee-Related Reason	Records not Reasonably Described	Improper FOIA Request for Other Reason	Not Agency Record	Duplicate Request	Other (Explained in chart below.)	T O T A L
AGENCY OVERALL	8	1	0	1	0	3	8	2	0	9	0	0	32

B. (2) Disposition of FOIA Requests – “Other” Reasons for “Full Denials Based on Reasons Other than Exemptions” from Section V, B (1) Chart

Agency Overall	Description of “Other” Reasons for Denials from Chart B (1) & Number of Times Those Reasons Were Relied upon	TOTAL
	[NONE FY2009]

B. (3) Disposition of FOIA Requests – Number of Times Exemptions Applied VI. ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS OF INITIAL DETERMINATIONS OF FOIA REQUESTS

	Ex. 1	Ex. 2	Ex. 3	Ex. 4	Ex. 5	Ex. 6	Ex. 7(A)	Ex. 7(B)	Ex. 7(C)	Ex. 7(D)	Ex. 7(E)	Ex. 7(F)	Ex. 8	Ex. 9
AGENCY OVERALL	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

A. Received, Processed and Pending Administrative Appeals

Number of Appeals Pending as of Start of Fiscal Year	Number of Appeals Received in Fiscal Year	Number of Appeals Processed in Fiscal Year	Number of Appeals Pending as of End of Fiscal Year
0	0	0	0

B. Disposition of Administrative Appeals – All Processed Appeals C. (1) Reasons for Denial on Appeal – Number of Times Exemptions Applied

Number Affirmed on Appeal	Number Partially Affirmed & Partially Reversed/Remanded on Appeal	Number Completely Reversed/Remanded on Appeal	Number of Appeals Closed for Other Reasons	TOTAL
0	0	0	0	0

Ex. 1	Ex. 2	Ex. 3	Ex. 4	Ex. 5	Ex. 6	Ex. 7(A)	Ex. 7(B)	Ex. 7(C)	Ex. 7(D)	Ex. 7(E)	Ex. 7(F)	Ex. 8	Ex. 9
0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

C. (2) Reasons for Denial on Appeal – Reasons Other than Exemptions

No Records	Records Referred at Initial Request Level	Request Withdraw n	Fee-Relat ed Reas on	Records not Reasonably Described	Improper Request for Other Reasons	Not Agency Record	Duplicate Request or Appeal	Request in Litigation	Appeal Based Solely on Denial of Request for Expedited Processing	Other *Explain in chart below
0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

C. (3) Reasons for Denial on Appeal – “Other” Reasons from Section VI, C (2) Chart

Description of “Other” Reasons for Denial on Appeal from Chart C (2) & Number of Times Those Reasons Were Relied upon	TOTAL
N/A

C. (4) Response Time for Administrative Appeals

Median Number Days	of	Average Number of Days	Lowest Number Days	of	Highest Number of Days
0		0	0		0

C. (5) Ten Oldest Pending Administrative Appeals

10th Oldest Oldest Appeal 9th 8th 7th 6th 5th 4th 3rd 2nd Appeal

Date of Receipt of Ten Oldest Appeals	None Date	None	None	None	None	None	None	None	None	None
Number of Days Pending	0 #	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

VII. FOIA REQUESTS: RESPONSE TIME FOR PROCESSED AND PENDING REQUESTS

A. Processed Requests – Response Time for All Processed Perfected Requests

	SIMPLE*		COMPLEX	EXPEDITED PROCESSING
Median Number of Days	Average Number of Days	Lowest Number of Days	Highest Number of Days	Median Number of Days	Average Number of Days	Lowest Number of Days	Highest Number of Days	Median Number of Days	Ave rage Nu mbe r of Day s	Lowest Number of Days	Highest Number of Days
AGENCY OVERALL	19	106	2	376	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

*These figures include 10 requests carried over to this fiscal year that had unusually high processing times because the requesters did not provide information or fees required to process them. See footnote on page six.

B. Processed Requests – Response Time for Perfected Requests in Which Information Was Granted

	SIMPLE*	COMPLEX		EXPEDITED PROCESSING
Median Number of Days	Average Number of Days	Lowest Number of Days	Highest Number of Days	Median Number of Days	Average Number of Days	Lowest Number of Days	Highest Number of Days	Median Number of Days		Average Number of Days	Lowest Number of Days	Highest Number of Days
AGENCY OVERALL	16	45	5	162	0	0	0	0	0		0	0	0

* See footnote for table A., above.

C. Processed Requests – Response Time in Day Increments Simple Requests

	1-20 Days	21-40 Days	41-60 Days	61-80 Days	81-100 Days	101-120 Days	121-140 Days	141-160 Days	161-180 Days	181-200 Days	201-300 Days	301-400 Days	401+ Days	TOTAL
AGENCY OVERALL	17	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	5	4	0	32

Complex Requests

	1-20 Days	21-40 Days	41-60 Days	61-80 Days	81-100 Days	101-120 Days	121-140 Days	141-160 Days	161-180 Days	181-200 Days	201-300 Days	301-400 Days	401+ Days	TOTAL
AGENCY OVERALL	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Requests Granted Expedited Processing D. Pending Requests – All Pending Perfected Requests

	1-20 Days	21-40 Days	41-60 Days	61-80 Days	81-100 Days	101-120 Days	121-140 Days	141-160 Days	161-180 Days	181-200 Days	201-300 Days	301-400 Days	401+ Days	TOTAL
AGENCY OVERALL	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

	SIMPLE*	COMPLEX	EXPEDITED PROCESSING
Number Pending	Median Number of Days	Average Number of Days	Number Pending	Median Number of Days	Average Number of Days	Number Pending	Median Number of Days	Average Number of Days
AGENCY OVERALL	9	11	17	0	0	0	0	0	0

* Seven of the nine pending requests were closed in the first quarter of the next fiscal year.

E. Pending Requests – Ten Oldest Pending Perfected Requests

	10th Oldest									Oldest
	Request									Request
	and Number	9th	8th	7th	6th	5th	4th	3rd	2nd	and Number
	of Days									of Days
	Pending									Pending

AGENCY		9/22/2009	9/22/2009	9/22/2009	9/22/2009	9/15/2009	9/14/2009	9/9/2009	8/18/09	7/1/2009
OVERALL	0	6	6	6	6	11	12	15	30	63

VIII. REQUESTS FOR EXPEDITED PROCESSING AND REQUESTS FOR FEE WAIVER

A. Requests for Expedited Processing

B. Requests for Fee Waiver

IX. FOIA PERSONNEL AND COSTS

X. FEES COLLECTED FOR PROCESSING REQUESTS

	Number Granted	Number Denied	Median Number of Days to Adjudicate	Average Number of Days to Adjudicate	Number Adjudicated Within Ten Calendar Days
AGENCY OVERALL	0	0	0	0	0

	Number Granted	Number Denied	Median Number of Days to Adjudicate	Average Number of Days to Adjudicate
AGENCY OVERALL	0	0	0	0

	A. PERSONNEL	B. COSTS
Number of “Full-Time FOIA Employees”	Number of “Equivalent Full-Time FOIA Employees”	Total Number of “Full-Time FOIA Staff”	Processing Costs	Litigation-Related Costs	Total Costs
AGENCY OVERALL	0	0.68	0.68	$100,416	0	$100,416

	Total Amount of Fees Collected	Percentage of Total Costs
AGENCY OVERALL	$213.50	.002%

XI. FOIA REGULATIONS The Copyright Office’s improvement plan is located at

http://www.copyright.gov/foia/foia_exec_13392.html.

XII. BACKLOGS, CONSULTATIONS, AND COMPARISONS

A. Backlogs of FOIA Requests and Administrative Appeals

	Number of Backlogged Requests as of End of Fiscal Year	Number of Backlogged Appeals as of End of Fiscal Year
AGENCY OVERALL	2*	0

*These two requests are pending action by Library of Congress administrative staff. The CO is a service unit within the Library which provides administrative services to all its service units. For some requests, it is necessary to refer requests for CO administrative records that are maintained by those offices to them for processing. Unlike the Copyright Office, the Library of Congress is not subject to FOIA although the Library has its own FOIA-like procedures.

B. Consultations on FOIA Requests – Received, Processed, and Pending Consultations Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Column 4

	Number of Consultations Received from Other Agencies that Were Pending at Your Agency as of Start of the Fiscal Year	Number of Consultations Received from Other Agencies During the Fiscal Year	Number of Consultations Received from Other Agencies that Were Processed by Your Agency During the Fiscal Year	Number of Consultations Received from Other Agencies that Were Pending at Your Agency as of End of the Fiscal Year
AGENCY OVERALL	0	0	0	0

C. Consultations on FOIA Requests – Ten Oldest Consultations Received from Other Agencies and Pending at Your Agency

	10th Oldest
	Consultati									Oldest
	on and Number of	9th	8th	7th	6th	5th	4th	3rd	2nd	Consultation and Number of
	Days									Days Pending
	Pending
AGENCY OVERALL	Date None Number of Days 0	None 0	None 0	None 0	None 0	None 0	None 0	None 0	None 0	None 0

D. Comparison of Numbers of Requests from Previous and Current Annual Report – Requests Received, Processed, and Backlogged

	Column 1	Column 2	Column 3	Column 4
	NUMBER OF REQUESTS RECEIVED	NUMBER OF REQUESTS PROCESSED
Number Received During Fiscal Year from Last Year’s Annual Report	Number Received During Fiscal Year from Current Annual Report	Number Processed During Fiscal Year from Last Year’s Annual Report	Number Processed During Fiscal Year from Current Annual Report
AGENCY OVERALL	54	31	45	32

Column 1 Column 2

	Number of Backlogged Requests as of End of the Fiscal Year from Previous Annual Report	Number of Backlogged Requests as of End of the Fiscal Year from Current Annual Report
AGENCY OVERALL	10	2*

*See footnote for Table XII.A. on page 17.

E. Comparison of Numbers of Administrative Appeals from Previous and Current Annual Report - Appeals Received, Processed, and Backlogged

Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Column 4

	NUMBER OF APPEALS RECEIVED	NUMBER OF APPEALS PROCESSED
Number Received During Fiscal Year from Last Year’s Annual Report	Number Received During Fiscal Year from Current Annual Report	Number Processed During Fiscal Year from Last Year’s Annual Report	Number Processed During Fiscal Year from Current Annual Report
AGENCY OVERALL	0	0	0	0

Column 1 Column 2

	Number of Backlogged Appeals as of End of the Fiscal Year from Previous Annual Report	Number of Backlogged Appeals as of End of the Fiscal Year from Current Annual Report
AGENCY OVERALL	0	0