Copyright Office Adopts Final Rule to Address Disruption of Copyright Office Electronic Systems
Issue No. 663 - May 19, 2017
The U.S. Copyright Office has issued a final rule to address the effect of a disruption or suspension of any Office electronic system on the Office’s receipt of applications, fees, deposits, or other materials. The Copyright Office received six comments in response to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, all of which were supportive of the proposed regulation changes. The final rule specifies how the Office will assign effective dates of receipt to materials attempted to be submitted during a disruption or suspension of an Office electronic system. In addition, the final rule specifies how the Office will assign effective dates of receipt when a specific submission that is physically delivered or attempted to be physically delivered to the Office is lost or misplaced in the absence of a declaration of disruption, as might occur during the security screening procedures used for mail that is delivered to the Office.