U.S. Copyright Office Publishes Final Rule Amending Freedom of Information Act Practices and Procedures
Issue No. 749 - February 13, 2019

The Copyright Office has adopted a final rule, effective March 15, 2019, amending Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) practices and procedures. In 2017, the Office issued an interim rule, implementing the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016. The final rule makes minimal amendments to the interim rule in response to public comments and updated guidance from the Department of Justice. Specifically, the updated final rule alerts requesters as to the availability of Office of Government Information Services when providing notice of unusual circumstances and adopts streamlined fee waiver procedures. The regulations provide a clear structure for the required regulatory provisions of FOIA, formalize Office practices of multitrack processing and aggregation, and provide areas of enhanced customer service. The rule and comments are available here.