17 U.S.C. § 710 — Emergency relief authority

Page 188 TITLE 17—COPYRIGHTS § 709 1 So in original. Probably should be followed by ‘‘to’’. EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1990 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 101–318, § 2(d), July 3, 1990, 104 Stat. 288, pro- vided that: ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by this sec- tion [amending this section and section 704 of this title] shall take effect 6 months after the date of the enact- ment of this Act [July 3, 1990] and shall apply to— ‘‘(A) claims to original, supplementary, and re- newal copyright received for registration, and to items received for recordation in the Copyright Of- fice, on or after such effective date, and ‘‘(B) other requests for services received on or after such effective date, or received before such effective date for services not yet rendered as of such date. ‘‘(2) PRIOR CLAIMS.—Claims to original, supple- mentary, and renewal copyright received for registra- tion and items received for recordation in acceptable form in the Copyright Office before the effective date set forth in paragraph (1), and requests for services which are rendered before such effective date shall be governed by section 708 of title 17, United States Code, as in effect before such effective date.’’ EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1982 AMENDMENT; TRANSITIONAL RULE Pub. L. 97–366, § 2, Oct. 25, 1982, 96 Stat. 1759, provided that: ‘‘This Act [amending this section, section 110 of this title, and section 3 of Title 35, Patents] shall take effect thirty days after its enactment [Oct. 25, 1982] and shall apply to claims to original, supplementary, and renewal copyright received for registration in the Copyright Office on or after the effective date. Claims to original, supplementary, and renewal copyright re- ceived for registration in acceptable form in the Copy- right Office before the effective date shall be governed by the provisions of section 708(a)(1) and (2) in effect prior to this enactment.’’ EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1977 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 95–94, title IV, § 406(b), Aug. 5, 1977, 91 Stat. 682, provided that the amendment made by section 406(b) is effective Jan. 1, 1978. CARRY-OVER OF EXISTING FEES Pub. L. 106–379, § 3(c)(2), Oct. 27, 2000, 114 Stat. 1446, provided that: ‘‘The fees under section 708(a) of title 17, United States Code, on the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 27, 2000] shall be the fees in effect under section 708(a) of such title on the day before such date of enactment.’’ § 709. Delay in delivery caused by disruption of postal or other services In any case in which the Register of Copy- rights determines, on the basis of such evidence as the Register may by regulation require, that a deposit, application, fee, or any other material to be delivered to the Copyright Office by a par- ticular date, would have been received in the Copyright Office in due time except for a general disruption or suspension of postal or other transportation or communications services, the actual receipt of such material in the Copyright Office within one month after the date on which the Register determines that the disruption or suspension of such services has terminated, shall be considered timely. (Pub. L. 94–553, title I, § 101, Oct. 19, 1976, 90 Stat. 2594.) § 710. Emergency relief authority (a) EMERGENCY ACTION.—If, on or before De- cember 31, 2021, the Register of Copyrights de- termines that a national emergency declared by the President under the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) generally disrupts or suspends the ordinary functioning of the copy- right system under this title, or any component thereof, including on a regional basis, the Reg- ister may, on a temporary basis, toll, waive, ad- just, or modify any timing provision (including any deadline or effective period, except as pro- vided in subsection (c)) or procedural provision contained in this title or chapters II or III of title 37, Code of Federal Regulations, for no longer than the Register reasonably determines to be appropriate to mitigate the impact of the disruption caused by the national emergency. In taking such action, the Register shall consider the scope and severity of the particular national emergency, and its specific effect with respect to the particular provision, and shall tailor any remedy accordingly. (b) NOTICE AND EFFECT.—Any action taken by the Register in response to a national emer- gency pursuant to subsection (a) shall not be subject to section 701(e) or subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, and chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code. The pro- vision of general public notice detailing the ac- tion being taken by the Register in response to the national emergency under subsection (a) is sufficient to effectuate such action. The Reg- ister may make such action effective both pro- spectively and retroactively in relation to a par- ticular provision as the Register determines to be appropriate based on the timing, scope, and nature of the public emergency, but any action by the Register may only be retroactive with re- spect to a deadline that has not already passed before the declaration described in subsection (a). (c) STATEMENT REQUIRED.—Except as provided in subsection (d), not later than 20 days after taking any action that results in a provision being modified for a cumulative total of longer than 120 days, the Register shall submit to Con- gress a statement detailing the action taken, the relevant background, and rationale for the action. (d) EXCEPTIONS.—The authority of the Register to act under subsection (a) does not extend 1 pro- visions under this title requiring the commence- ment of an action or proceeding in Federal court within a specified period of time, except that if the Register adjusts the license availability date defined in section 115(e)(15), such adjustment shall not affect the ability to commence actions for any claim of infringement of exclusive rights provided by paragraphs (1) and (3) of section 106 against a digital music provider arising from the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of a musical work by such digital music provider in the course of engaging in covered activities that accrued after January 1, 2018, provided that such action is commenced within the time periods prescribed under section 115(d)(10)(C)(i) or 115(d)(10)(C)(ii) as calculated from the adjusted license availability date. If the Register adjusts the license availability date, the Register must provide the statement to Congress under sub- section (c) at the same time as the public notice Page 189 TITLE 17—COPYRIGHTS § 801 of such adjustment with a detailed explanation of why such adjustment is needed. (e) COPYRIGHT TERM EXCEPTION.—The author- ity of the Register to act under subsection (a) does not extend to provisions under chapter 3, except section 304(c), or section 1401(a)(2). (f) OTHER LAWS.—Notwithstanding section 301 of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1631), the authority of the Register under subsection (a) is not contingent on a specification made by the President under such section or any other requirement under that Act (other than the emergency declaration under section 201(a) of such Act (50 U.S.C. 1621(a))). The authority de- scribed in this section supersedes the authority of title II of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1621 et seq.). (Added Pub. L. 116–136, div. B, title IX, § 19011(a), Mar. 27, 2020, 134 Stat. 581.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The National Emergencies Act, referred to in subsecs. (a) and (f), is Pub. L. 94–412, Sept. 14, 1976, 90 Stat. 1255, which is classified principally to chapter 34 (§ 1601 et seq.) of Title 50, War and National Defense. Title II of the Act is classified generally to subchapter II (§ 1621 et seq.) of chapter 34 of Title 50. For complete classifica- tion of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 1601 of Title 50 and Tables. PRIOR PROVISIONS A prior section 710, Pub. L. 94–553, title I, § 101, Oct. 19, 1976, 90 Stat. 2594, related to forms and procedures for granting the Library of Congress licenses to repro- duce works for the blind and physically handicapped, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 106–379, § 3(a)(1), Oct. 27, 2000, 114 Stat. 1445. CHAPTER 8—PROCEEDINGS BY COPYRIGHT ROYALTY JUDGES Sec. 801. Copyright Royalty Judges; appointment and functions. 802. Copyright Royalty Judgeships; staff. 803. Proceedings of Copyright Royalty Judges. 804. Institution of proceedings. 805. General rule for voluntarily negotiated agree- ments. Editorial Notes PRIOR PROVISIONS This chapter consisted of sections 801 to 803, related to proceedings by copyright arbitration royalty panels, prior to being amended generally by Pub. L. 108–419. AMENDMENTS 2004—Pub. L. 108–419, § 3(a), Nov. 30, 2004, 118 Stat. 2341, amended chapter heading and analysis generally, substituting chapter heading and items 801 to 805 for chapter heading ‘‘COPYRIGHT ARBITRATION ROY- ALTY PANELS’’, and items 801 ‘‘Copyright arbitration royalty panels: Establishment and purpose’’, 802 ‘‘Mem- bership and proceedings of copyright arbitration roy- alty panels’’, and 803 ‘‘Institution and conclusion of proceedings’’. 1997—Pub. L. 105–80, § 12(a)(18), Nov. 13, 1997, 111 Stat. 1535, substituted ‘‘Establishment’’ for ‘‘establishment’’ in item 801. 1993—Pub. L. 103–198, § 2(f), Dec. 17, 1993, 107 Stat. 2308, amended table of sections generally, substituting chap- ter heading and items 801 to 803 for chapter heading ‘‘COPYRIGHT ROYALTY TRIBUNAL’’, item 801 ‘‘Copyright Royalty Tribunal: Establishment and pur- pose’’, item 802 ‘‘Membership of the Tribunal’’, item 804 ‘‘Institution and conclusion of proceedings’’, item 805 ‘‘Staff of the Tribunal’’, item 806 ‘‘Administrative sup- port of the Tribunal’’, item 807 ‘‘Deduction of costs of proceedings’’, item 808 ‘‘Reports’’, item 809 ‘‘Effective date of final determinations’’, and item 810 ‘‘Judicial review’’. Pub. L. 103–198, § 2(c), Dec. 17, 1993, 107 Stat. 2307, struck out item 803 ‘‘Procedures of the Tribunal.’’ § 801. Copyright Royalty Judges; appointment and functions (a) APPOINTMENT.—The Librarian of Congress shall appoint 3 full-time Copyright Royalty Judges, and shall appoint 1 of the 3 as the Chief Copyright Royalty Judge. The Librarian shall make appointments to such positions after con- sultation with the Register of Copyrights. (b) FUNCTIONS.—Subject to the provisions of this chapter, the functions of the Copyright Royalty Judges shall be as follows: (1) To make determinations and adjustments of reasonable terms and rates of royalty pay- ments as provided in sections 112(e), 114, 115, 116, 118, 119, and 1004. (2) To make determinations concerning the adjustment of the copyright royalty rates under section 111 solely in accordance with the following provisions: (A) The rates established by section 111(d)(1)(B) may be adjusted to reflect— (i) national monetary inflation or defla- tion; or (ii) changes in the average rates charged cable subscribers for the basic service of providing secondary transmissions to maintain the real constant dollar level of the royalty fee per subscriber which ex- isted as of the date of October 19, 1976, except that— (I) if the average rates charged cable sys- tem subscribers for the basic service of providing secondary transmissions are changed so that the average rates exceed national monetary inflation, no change in the rates established by section 111(d)(1)(B) shall be permitted; and (II) no increase in the royalty fee shall be permitted based on any reduction in the average number of distant signal equiva- lents per subscriber. The Copyright Royalty Judges may consider all factors relating to the maintenance of such level of payments, including, as an ex- tenuating factor, whether the industry has been restrained by subscriber rate regu- lating authorities from increasing the rates for the basic service of providing secondary transmissions. (B) In the event that the rules and regula- tions of the Federal Communications Com- mission are amended at any time after April 15, 1976, to permit the carriage by cable sys- tems of additional television broadcast sig- nals beyond the local service area of the pri- mary transmitters of such signals, the roy- alty rates established by section 111(d)(1)(B) may be adjusted to ensure that the rates for the additional distant signal equivalents re- sulting from such carriage are reasonable in