[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 60 (Monday, March 31, 2025)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 14206-14207]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-05444]
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
U.S. Copyright Office
37 CFR Part 201
[Docket No. 2024-7]
Electronic Payment of Royalties Using Pay.gov
AGENCY: U.S. Copyright Office, Library of Congress.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Copyright Office is issuing a final rule to amend its
regulations regarding the submission of royalty fees to the Copyright
Office to require that all such fees be paid using Pay.gov.
DATES: Effective April 30, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rhea Efthimiadis, Assistant to the
General Counsel, by email at meft@copyright.gov, or by telephone at
202-707-8350.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The section 111 of the Copyright Act
(``Act''), title 17 of the United States Code, provides cable operators
with a statutory license to retransmit a performance or display of a
work embodied in a ``primary transmission'' made by a television
station licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (``FCC'').
Cable operators that retransmit broadcast signals in accordance with
this provision are required to pay royalty fees to the Copyright Office
(``Office''), among other requirements. Similarly, section 119 of the
Act provides satellite carriers with a statutory license to retransmit
certain primary transmissions if they satisfy certain criteria, for
which they also must pay royalty fees to the Office. In addition,
sections 1003 and 1004 of the Act require manufacturers and importers
of digital audio recording devices and digital audio recording media
(``DART'') to pay royalty fees to the Office.
On December 12, 2024, the Office published a notice of proposed
rule rulemaking (``NPRM'') setting forth proposed amendments to the
regulations governing the submission of royalty fees by cable
operators, satellite carriers, and DART operators to require that these
fees be paid using the U.S. Treasury Department's Pay.gov system.\1\ As
noted in the NPRM, mandating Pay.gov benefits both filers and the
Office because it streamlines the process to receive, reconcile, and
post payments; provides remitters with the convenience of using a
variety of methods, including credit or debit cards, as a form of
payment; and eliminates redundancy.\2\
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\1\ 89 FR 100439.
\2\ Id. at 100439-40.
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The Office did not receive any relevant comments from the public in
response to this rulemaking. As a result, the Office is adopting the
proposed amendments as final without change. To guide remitters
unfamiliar with Pay.gov, the Office has created Pay.gov tutorials,
which are posted on the Licensing Section's website.\3\
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\3\ United States Copyright Office, Circular 74, June 2022: How
to Make Statutory License Royalty EFT Payments Using Pay.gov,
https://copyright.gov/circs/circ74.pdf; United States Copyright
Office, Make Statutory License Royalty Payments Using Pay.gov,
https://copyright.gov/licensing/eftpayment.
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List of Subjects in 37 CFR Part 201
Copyright, General provisions.
[[Page 14207]]
Final Regulations
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, the Copyright Office
amends 37 CFR part 201 as follows:
PART 201--GENERAL PROVISIONS
0
1. The authority citation for part 201 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 17 U.S.C. 702.
0
2. Amend Sec. 201.11 by revising paragraphs (f)(1) and (h)(3)(iv) to
read as follows:
Sec. 201.11 Satellite carrier statements of account covering
statutory licenses for secondary transmissions.
* * * * *
(f) * * *
(1) All royalty fees shall be paid by electronic funds transfer
using Pay.gov, and payment must be received in the designated bank by
the filing deadline for the relevant accounting period. Satellite
carriers must provide specific information as part of the EFT and as
part of the remittance advice, as listed in the instructions for
Pay.gov, the Statement of Account form, and the Office's website.
* * * * *
(h) * * *
(3) * * *
(iv)(A) All requests filed under this paragraph (h) must be
accompanied by a filing fee in the amount prescribed in Sec. 201.3(e)
for each Statement of Account involved. Payment of this fee must be by
EFT using Pay.gov. No request will be processed until the appropriate
filing fees are received.
(B) All requests that a supplemental royalty fee payment be
received for deposit under this paragraph (h) must be accompanied by a
remittance in the full amount of such fee. Payment of the supplemental
royalty fee must be by EFT using Pay.gov. No such request will be
processed until an acceptable remittance in the full amount of the
supplemental royalty fee has been received.
* * * * *
0
3. Amend Sec. 201.17 by revising paragraphs (k)(1) and (l)(4)(iv) to
read as follows:
Sec. 201.17 Statements of Account covering compulsory licenses for
secondary transmissions by cable systems.
* * * * *
(k) * * *
(1) All royalty fees must be paid by electronic funds transfer
(EFT) using Pay.gov, and must be received in the designated bank by the
filing deadline for the relevant accounting period. Cable systems must
provide specific information as part of the EFT and as part of the
remittance advice, as listed in the instructions for Pay.gov, the
Statement of Account form and on the Office's website.
* * * * *
(l) * * *
(4) * * *
(iv)(A) All requests filed under this paragraph (l) must be
accompanied by a filing fee in the amount prescribed in Sec. 201.3(e)
for each Statement of Account involved. Payment of this fee must be
made by an electronic payment using Pay.gov. No request will be
processed until the appropriate filing fees are received; and
(B) All requests that a supplemental royalty fee payment be
received for deposit under this paragraph (l) must be accompanied by a
remittance in the full amount of such fee. Payment of the supplemental
royalty fee must be by an electronic payment using Pay.gov. No such
request will be processed until an acceptable remittance in the full
amount of the supplemental royalty fee has been received.
* * * * *
0
4. Amend Sec. 201.28 by revising paragraphs (h)(1) and (j)(3)(v) to
read as follows:
Sec. 201.28 Statements of Account for digital audio recording devices
or media.
* * * * *
(h) * * *
(1) All royalty fees must be paid by electronic funds transfer
(EFT) using Pay.gov, and must be received in the designated bank by the
filing deadline for the relevant accounting period. Remitters must
provide specific information as part of the EFT and as part of the
remittance advice, as listed in the instructions for Pay.gov, the
Statement of Account form, and the Office's website.
* * * * *
(j)) * * *
(3) * * *
(v)(A) The request must be accompanied by a filing fee in the
amount prescribed in Sec. 201.3(e) for each Statement of Account
involved. Payment of this fee must be by EFT using Pay.gov. No request
will be processed until the appropriate filing fees are received.
(B) Requests that a supplemental royalty fee payment be deposited
must be accompanied by a remittance in the full amount of such fee.
Payment of the supplemental royalty fee must be by electronic payment
using Pay.gov. No such request will be processed until an acceptable
remittance in the full amount of the supplemental royalty fee has been
received.
* * * * *
Shira Perlmutter,
Register of Copyrights and Director of the U.S. Copyright Office.
Approved by:
Carla D. Hayden,
Librarian of Congress.
[FR Doc. 2025-05444 Filed 3-28-25; 8:45 am]
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