Copyright Office Requests Public Comment on Proposed Key Elements of Reengineering the Documents Recordation Function

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The United States Copyright Office requests public comment on proposed key elements relevant to reengineering the function of recording documents pertaining to copyright pursuant to 17 U.S.C. section 205. In a separate notice that will be published soon, the Office will also announce a series of public hearings on these elements, scheduled shortly after the end of the comment period on this Notice of Inquiry. The elements have been developed with the aid of previous comments obtained during the Office's two-year Special Projects process, particularly the Special Project on Technical Upgrades to Registration and Recordation Functions. View that project's Notice of Inquiry and resulting comments at www.copyright.gov/docs/technical_upgrades/.

In particular, the Office is seeking comment and holding public hearings on the following elements: (1) a guided remitter responsibility model of electronic recordation; (2) the use of structured electronic documents that contain their own indexing information; (3) the linking of recordation records to registration records; (4) the use of standard identifiers, and other metadata standards, in recorded documents and the catalog of such documents; and (5) potential additional incentives to record documents pertaining to copyrights.

Comments are due on or before March 15, 2014. The dates for public hearings to be conducted on the east and west coasts after the close of the public comment period are yet to be determined. For more information, go to www.copyright.gov/fedreg/2014/79fr2696.pdf.