Copyright Office Proposes Amendments to Regulations on Deposit Requirements for Electronic Registration of Automated Databases Consisting Predominantly of Photographs
Issue No. 410 - January 28, 2011


The Copyright Office is proposing to amend its regulations governing the deposit requirements for applications for automated databases that consist predominantly of photographs. The proposed amendments would require that, in addition to providing the identifying material traditionally required for registration of automated databases, deposits for photographic databases shall include the image of each photograph in which copyright is claimed. This requirement was already included in the recently announced interim regulation governing online applications to register databases that consist predominantly of photographs. (See Federal Register 76 FR 4072.) The Office believes that this amendment will align the deposit requirements for such databases with the deposit requirements for published or unpublished photographs as a single work or group registration of published photographs and provide a better public record identifying the scope of the copyright claim. Comments must be received no later than February 28, 2011. (Read more.)


Copyright Office Compiles New Specialty Station List


The Copyright Office is compiling a new specialty station list to identify commercial television broadcast stations that, according to their owners, would have qualified as specialty stations under the former distant signal carriage rules of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and, as such, may be carried at the base rate for “permitted” signals. The list is periodically updated to ensure an accurate listing of specialty stations. Thus, the Copyright Office is again requesting all interested owners of television broadcast stations that qualify as specialty stations, including those that previously filed affidavits, to submit sworn affidavits to the Copyright Office stating that the programming of their stations meets the requirements specified under the FCC regulations in effect on June 24, 1981. Affidavits should be received on or before March 29, 2011. (Read more.)