Ex Parte Communications
Guidelines
In its September 24, 2019 notice of inquiry, the Copyright Office indicated that it would consider requests from interested participants for informal communications with the Office to discuss targeted issues related to the merits of the rulemaking. To ensure that such communications are governed by transparent and consistent procedures, the Office is issuing the following guidelines:
- Any interested participant seeking an ex parte in-person or telephone meeting with the Office in this proceeding should submit a written request to John R. Riley, Assistant General Counsel, at [email protected], and Jason Sloan, Assistant General Counsel, at [email protected] The request should identify (1) the names of all proposed attendees, and (2) the party or parties on whose behalf each attendee is appearing.
- Ex parte meetings with the Office are intended to provide an opportunity for participants to clarify evidence and/or arguments made in prior written submissions, and to respond to questions from the Office on those matters. The Office will generally not consider or accept new documentary materials outside the rulemaking record.
- Within two business days after the meeting, the attendees must email the Office (using the above email addresses) a letter detailing the information identified in paragraph 1 and summarizing the discussion at the meeting. The letter must summarize the substance of the views expressed and arguments made in such a way that a non-participating party will understand the scope of issues discussed; merely listing the subjects discussed or providing a 1-2 sentence description will not be sufficient. These letters will be made publicly available on the Copyright Office’s website.
Email Notifications
If you are interested in receiving an email alert when a new ex parte letter is posted on this webpage, please email [email protected]. You may want to whitelist [email protected] so that any emails received from this account are not diverted to a “junk mail” folder. Please do not email this account for any other purpose, including requests for ex parte meetings (to request an ex parte meeting, please follow the above guidelines.)
Commenter Ex Parte Letters (other than in response to USCO letters) |
Artist Rights Alliance et al. (Sept. 22, 2020) |
Association of Independent Music Publishers (Aug. 8, 2022) |
Church Music Publishers Association (June 29, 2022) |
CISAC/BIEM et al. (Oct. 27, 2020) |
Copyright Alliance (Aug. 8, 2022) |
Digital Licensee Coordinator #1 (Feb. 14, 2020) |
Digital Licensee Coordinator #2 (Feb. 24, 2020) |
Digital Licensee Coordinator #3 (Mar. 4, 2020) |
Digital Licensee Coordinator #4 (Aug. 11, 2020) |
Digital Licensee Coordinator #5 (Aug. 27, 2020) |
Digital Licensee Coordinator #6 (Oct. 14, 2020) |
Digital Licensee Coordinator #7 (Nov. 10, 2020) |
Digital Licensee Coordinator #8 (Dec. 11, 2020) |
Digital Licensee Coordinator #9 (Nov. 18, 2021) |
Digital Licensee Coordinator #10 (Nov. 23, 2021) |
Digital Licensee Coordinator #11 (Mar. 14, 2022) |
Digital Licensee Coordinator #12 (June 1, 2022) |
Digital Licensee Coordinator #13 (Nov. 18, 2022) |
Google (Oct. 23, 2020) * |
Erin McAnally & Abby North (Mar. 14, 2023) |
Mechanical Licensing Collective #1 (Jan. 29, 2020) |
Mechanical Licensing Collective #2 (Feb. 26, 2020) |
Mechanical Licensing Collective #3 (Mar. 24, 2020) |
Mechanical Licensing Collective #4 (Apr. 3, 2020) |
Mechanical Licensing Collective #5 (Jun. 17, 2020) |
Mechanical Licensing Collective #6 (Aug. 16, 2020) |
Mechanical Licensing Collective #7 (Aug. 21, 2020) |
Mechanical Licensing Collective #8 (Oct. 5, 2020) |
Mechanical Licensing Collective #9 (Oct. 15, 2020) |
Mechanical Licensing Collective #10 (Oct. 16, 2020) |
Mechanical Licensing Collective #11 (Dec. 3, 2020) |
Mechanical Licensing Collective #12 (Apr. 4, 2022) |
Mechanical Licensing Collective #13 (Oct. 17, 2022) |
Mechanical Licensing Collective #14 (Dec. 21, 2022) |
Mechanical Licensing Collective & Digital Licensee Coordinator (Dec. 9, 2020) |
MediaNet (Oct. 28, 2020) * |
Music Artists Coalition (Aug. 10, 2022) |
Music Reports #1 (Sept. 29, 2020) |
Music Reports #2 (Dec. 15, 2020) |
National Music Publishers’ Association #1 (Aug. 25, 2020) |
National Music Publishers’ Association #2 (Nov. 3, 2020) |
National Music Publishers’ Association #3 (Feb. 4, 2022) |
National Music Publishers’ Association #4 (June 13, 2022) |
National Music Publishers’ Association #5 (Feb. 6, 2023) |
North Music Group (Mar. 18, 2020) |
Jeff Price (Nov. 23, 2020) |
RIAA #1 (June 16, 2020) |
RIAA #2 (Aug. 24, 2020) |
Songwriters Guild of America et al. #1 (Sept. 15, 2020) |
Songwriters Guild of America et al. #2 (Dec. 14, 2020) |
Songwriters Guild of America et al. #3 (July 7, 2022) |
Songwriters of North America & Nashville Songwriters Association International (July 7, 2022) |
Sony Music & RIAA (Dec. 9, 2019) |
Sony/ATV Music Publishing (Oct. 28, 2020) |
SoundExchange (Sept. 1, 2020) |
Spotify #1 (Sept. 1, 2020) |
Spotify #2 (Oct. 9, 2020) * |
Universal Music Group & RIAA (Dec. 6, 2019) |
Universal Music Publishing Group (Oct. 30, 2020) |
Warner Music Group (Oct. 21, 2020) |
* The party submitting this letter simultaneously submitted a version containing confidential information to advise the Copyright Office of certain confidential information pertaining to its business. See also 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(4).
USCO Letters and Related Commenter Responses and Ex Parte Letters |
Copyright Office Letter #1 (June 8, 2020)
- Digital Licensee Coordinator Response (June 15, 2020)
- Mechanical Licensing Collective Response (June 15, 2020)
- MLC Unclaimed Royalties Oversight Committee Response (June 15, 2020)
- Copyright Office Post-Meeting Email (June 19, 2020)
- Digital Licensee Coordinator Ex Parte Letter (June 23, 2020)
- Mechanical Licensing Collective Ex Parte Letter (June 23, 2020)
- MLC Unclaimed Royalties Oversight Committee Ex Parte Letter (June 23, 2020)
- Music Artists Coalition Ex Parte Letter (June 23, 2020)
- Nashville Songwriters Association International Ex Parte Letter (June 24, 2020)
- RIAA Ex Parte Letter (June 22, 2020)
- Songwriters of North America Ex Parte Letter (June 23, 2020)
- Digital Licensee Coordinator Response (July 8, 2020)
- Mechanical Licensing Collective Response (July 8, 2020)
- RIAA Response (July 8, 2020)
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Copyright Office Letter #2 (June 10, 2020)
- Copyright Office Post-Meeting Email (June 22, 2020)
- Digital Licensee Coordinator Ex Parte Letter (June 26, 2020)
- Mechanical Licensing Collective Ex Parte Letter (June 26, 2020)
- Music Artists Coalition Ex Parte Letter (June 26, 2020)
- Nashville Songwriters Association International Ex Parte Letter (June 26, 2020)
- Peermusic Ex Parte Letter (June 26, 2020)
- Recording Academy Ex Parte Letter (June 26, 2020)
- Songwriters Guild of America Ex Parte Letter (June 26, 2020)
- Songwriters of North America Ex Parte Letter (June 26, 2020)
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Copyright Office Letter #3 (June 30, 2020)
- Digital Licensee Coordinator Response (July 13, 2020)
- Mechanical Licensing Collective Response (July 13, 2020)
- Alliance for Recorded Music Ex Parte Letter (July 27, 2020)
- Digital Licensee Coordinator Ex Parte Letter (July 24, 2020)
- Mechanical Licensing Collective Ex Parte Letter (July 24, 2020)
- SoundExchange Ex Parte Letter (July 24, 2020)
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Copyright Office Letter #4 (Oct. 30, 2020)
- Artist Rights Alliance Ex Parte Letter (Nov. 17, 2020)
- Digital Licensee Coordinator Ex Parte Letter (Nov. 17, 2020)
- Mechanical Licensing Collective Ex Parte Letter (Nov. 17, 2020)
- Music Artists Coalition Ex Parte Letter (Nov. 17, 2020)
- Nashville Songwriters Association International Ex Parte Letter (Nov. 17, 2020)
- National Music Publishers’ Association Ex Parte Letter (Nov. 17, 2020)
- Recording Academy & Songwriters of North America Ex Parte Letter (Nov. 17, 2020)
- Songwriters Guild of America et al. Ex Parte Letter (Nov. 18, 2020)
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