Office Seeks Comment on Reduced Fee for Designating Agents under the DMCA
Issue No. 628 - May 25, 2016


The United States Copyright Office has published a notice of proposed rulemaking and request for comments concerning a significant reduction in the fee for online service providers to designate agents to receive notifications of claimed infringement under section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”). The Office is proposing the lower fee in anticipation of a new online system through which service providers will be able to more efficiently designate agents with the Office and the public will be able to more easily search for such agents.


At this time, the Office is soliciting comments solely with respect to the proposed $6 fee to designate agents in the new system. Accordingly, comments should be directed only to the appropriateness of the proposed fee. Written comments must be received no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on June 24, 2016. Additional information and instructions for filing comments are available here.