Office Announces Interim Rule Allowing Copyright Owners to File Notices of Intent to Audit Cable and Satellite Statements of Account
Issue No. 521 - December 23, 2013

The U.S. Copyright Office is issuing an interim rule pursuant to the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act of 2010 ("STELA"), Pub. Law 111-175, to establish the procedure for filing a notice of intent to audit the Statements of Account ("SOAs") that cable and satellite providers file with the Office. Cable and satellite providers must file SOAs and deposit royalty fees in order to use the statutory licenses that allow them to retransmit over-the-air broadcast signals. STELA directed the Register of Copyrights to establish a process to allow copyright owners to audit these SOAs. The Office published two notices of proposed rulemaking and received extensive comments on the proposal. The Office is reviewing these comments and intends to issue a final rule in the near future. In the meantime, the Office is issuing an interim rule to allow copyright owners to identify the SOAs that they intend to audit for accounting periods beginning on or after January 1, 2010. The rule will be effective when it is published in the Federal Register, on or about December 26, 2013. Copyright owners that intend to audit SOAs for the 2010-1 accounting period are advised that a notice of intent to audit those SOAs must be received in the Office by December 31, 2013. A notice of intent addressed to the U.S. Copyright Office, Office of the General Counsel may be provided as follows:


  • Notices may be sent by regular mail to P.O. Box 70400, Washington, DC, 20024-0400. Please allow sufficient time for delivery by December 31, 2013.
  • Notices may be delivered by a commercial courier service to the Congressional Courier Acceptance Site ("CCAS"), which is located at 2nd and D Streets NE, Washington, DC. CCAS is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (except for federal holidays).
  • Notices may be delivered by hand to the Public Information Office ("PIO") of the Copyright Office, which is located in Room LM-401 of the James Madison Memorial Building, 101 Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC. PIO is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (except for federal holidays).

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