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U.S. Copyright Office
NewsNet

June 2, 1999
Issue 50
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For additional information, visit the Copyright Office homepage at
http://www.copyright.gov.

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CONTENTS

* News *

Federal Register

Final Regulation on Fees Published (64 FR 29518)

Office Permits Group Registration of Daily Newsletters (64 FR 29522)

Legislative News

Senate Passes Major Satellite Reform Bill

Database Protection Amended and Voted Out of Committee; New Measure Introduced in Commerce

* Calendar *

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* NEWS *

----------------Federal Register---------------

For the complete text of Federal Register announcements, visit the
Copyright Office homepage at http://www.copyright.gov

FINAL REGULATION ON FEES PUBLISHED (64 FR 29518)
The Copyright Office published on June 1 its final regulations adjusting certain fees it charges for copyright registration, recordation, and related services, to more nearly recover the reasonable costs of providing these services. To facilitate public reference and Copyright Office administration, the Office also consolidated and relocated in one regulatory section most references to fees for other services, including fees for discretionary or special services and services performed by the Licensing Division. The effective date of the regulations is July 1.

OFFICE PERMITS GROUP REGISTRATION OF DAILY NEWSLETTERS (64 FR 29522)
Publishers of daily newsletters will now be able to group daily newsletters for registration on one application and take advantage of a lower fee than if each issue were separately registered, similar to the present situation for daily newspapers. On June 1 the Copyright Office published its final regulation concerning group registration of daily newsletters, which permits a group registration of one month's worth of daily newsletters, provided certain conditions and deposit requirements, as outlined in the regulation, are met. The regulation is effective July 1.

----------------Legislative News---------------

To read the legislative proposals, visit Thomas at http://thomas.loc.gov and search by the bill numbers.

SENATE PASSES MAJOR SATELLITE REFORM BILL
On May 20, the Senate passed H.R. 1554, the Satellite Home Viewers Improvement Act, which, among other provisions, would extend the satellite compulsory license, which is set to expire at the end of this year, for another 5 years. The measure would amend both the Copyright Act and the Communications Act of 1934. The Senate substituted the language of S. 247, as amended, for the language of the House-passed version. In addition to extending the satellite license, the new bill creates a new compulsory license, which allows satellite carriers to retransmit local television stations to households within the stations' local markets, just as cable does; its cuts the copyright royalty rates paid for satellite transmission of distant signals by 30 or 45 percent, depending on the type of signal; it allows consumers to switch from cable to satellite service without a 90-day waiting period for network signals; and it allows for a national Public Broadcasting Service feed. The new bill includes the language of S. 303, the Satellite Television Act of 1999, which was reported out by the Senate Commerce Committee (Senate Report No. 106-51), and which deals with various FCC-related issues as "must carry" and retransmission consent requirements for satellite carriers. The Senate and House must now appoint a conference to work out the differences between the two versions of the Satellite Home Viewers Improvement Act.

DATABASE PROTECTION AMENDED AND VOTED OUT OF COMMITTEE; NEW MEASURE INTRODUCED IN COMMERCE
H. R. 354, the Collections of Information Antipiracy Act, was amended and reported out of the House Intellectual Property Subcommittee on May 20 and further refined and reported out by the Judiciary Committee on May 26. The bill would offer protection to collections of information such as electronic databases under the Copyright Act, by relying on unfair competition principles to prevent a party from misappropriating another's collection of information.

Other legislation on the same topic, H.R. 1858, the "Consumer and Investor Access to Information Act" was introduced on May 19 by Rep. Tom Bliley (R-Va.) and referred to the Commerce Committee. However, unlike H.R. 354, the bill would not amend the Copyright Act. It would prohibit the sale or distribution of a database that "(1) is a duplicate of another database that was collected and organized by another person and (2) is sold or distributed in commerce in competition with that other database."

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* CALENDAR *

June 10: Effective date of final regulations prescribing how CARP
arbitrators shall be reimbursed for their services (64 FR 25201)

July 1: Effective date of Copyright Office fee increase (64 FR 29518)

July 1: Effective date of final rule on group registration of daily newsletters (64 FR 29522)

July 6: Due date for comments on notices of intent to participate in
distribution of royalty fees in 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998 Musical Works
Funds (64 FR 23875)

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