U.S. Copyright Office
Freedom of Information Act, Annual Report
Fiscal Year 1998

I. Basic Information

A. Direct questions about this report to:

Peter Vankevich,
Supervisory Copyright Information Specialist
Copyright Office GC/I&R
P.O. Box 70400
Washington, DC 20024

Telephone: (202) 707-0600
FAX: (202) 707-6859

B. FOIA annual report may be obtained through the Internet at:

http://www.copyright.gov/foia

C. Report may also be obtained by making request to the address listed in part I.A. above.

II. How to Make a FOIA Request

A. This information is available on the Copyright Office's web site listed in part I.B. above, as well as at 37 CFR 203.

B. Agency response times to requests made in Fiscal Year 1998

The average response time for responding to requests in FY 98 was 12 working days. Twenty working days is the maximum allowed by law. There were no appeals during that time period.

C. Brief description of why some requests are not granted

Some requests are not pertinent to the Copyright Office's operations, but rather, should be directed to the Library of Congress, of which the Copyright Office is part. The Office forwards such requests to the Library when appropriate.

III. Definitions of terms and Acronyms Used in the Report

A. Basic terms

1. FY 98 — fiscal year 1998, which in this year covers a one-time only period of October 1, 1997 to September 30, 1998.

2. FOIA — Freedom of Information Act, as amended by the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996.

3. FOIA request — a FOIA request is generally a request for access to records concerning a third party, and organization, or a particular topic of interest. A request made under the related Privacy Act is a request for records concerning oneself; any such requests received are treated as FOIA requests. All requests for access to records under the FOIA or Privacy Act are covered by this report.

4. Initial request — a request to the agency for access to records under the FOIA.

5. Appeal — a request to a federal agency asking that it review at a higher administrative level a full or partial denial of access to records under the FOIA, or any other FOIA determination such as a fee waiver or assessment.

6. Processed Request or Appeal — a request or appeal for which an agency has taken a final action in all respects on the request or the appeal.

7. Denial — agency decision not to release part of or whole record in response to a FOIA request because the agency determines all the information in the requested records is exempt under one or more exemptions, or for a procedural reason, such as no such record is retained by the agency.

8. Time limits — the time period for an agency to respond to a FOIA request, ordinarily 20 working days from proper receipt of a FOIA request.

9. Median number — the middle, not average, number. For example, among 3, 7, and 14, the median number is 7.

10. Exemption 3 statute — a separate federal statute prohibiting the disclosure of a certain type of information and authorizing its withholding under subsection (b)(3) of the FOIA.

IV. Exemption 3 Statutes

A. List of exemption 3 statutes the agency may have relied upon in FY 98

1. Privacy Act, 5 USC 552a: social security number, home address, personnel records, tax information, account information, credit reports.

2. Example of whether a court has upheld the use of the statute: Provenzano v. United States Dept. of Justice, 717 F.2d 799 (3d Cir. 1983), cert. granted, 466 U.S. 926 (1984), (now moot since Congress enacted the Central intelligence Agency Information Act in 1984. This Office did not need to rely on this case to process requests it received under the FOIA in FY 98.

V. Initial FOIA/Privacy Act Access Requests

A. Number of initial requests

1. Number of requests pending as of end of preceding fiscal year (FY 97): 0

2. Number of requests received during FY 98: 42

3. Number of requests processed during FY 98: 42

3. Number of requests processed during FY 98: 42

4. Number of requests pending as of end of FY 98: 0

B. Disposition of initial requests

1. Number of total grants: 40

2. Number of partial grants: 1

3. Number of denials: 1

a. Number of times each FOIA exemption used (counting one exemption once per request)

(1) Exemption 1: 0

(2) Exemption 2: 0

(3) Exemption 3: 0

(4) Exemption 4: 0

(5) Exemption 5: 0

(6) Exemption 6: 0

(7) Exemption 7(A): 0

(8) Exemption 7(B): 0

(9) Exemption 7(C): 0

(10) Exemption 7(D): 0

(11) Exemption 7(E): 0

(12) Exemption 7(F): 0

(13) Exemption 8: 0

(14) Exemption 9: 0

4. Other reasons for nondisclosure (total): 2

a. No records: 1

b. Referrals: 0

c. Request withdrawn: 0

d. Fee-related reason: 0

e. Records not reasonably described: 0

f. Not a proper FOIA request for some other reason: 0

g. Not an agency record: 1

h. Duplicate request: 0

i. Other: 0

VI. Appeals of Initial Denials of FOIA/PA Requests

A. Number of appeals

1. Number of appeals received during FY 98: 0

2. Number of appeals processed during fiscal year: 0

B. Disposition of appeals

1. Number completely upheld: 0

2. Number partially reversed: 0

3. Number completely reversed: 0

a. Number of times each FOIA exemption used (counting each exemption once per appeal)

(1) Exemption 1: 0

(2) Exemption 2: 0

(3) Exemption 3: 0

(4) Exemption 4: 0

(5) Exemption 5: 0

(6) Exemption 6: 0

(7) Exemption 7(A): 0

(8) Exemption 7(B): 0

(9) Exemption 7(C): 0

(10) Exemption 7(D): 0

(11) Exemption 7(E): 0

(12) Exemption 7(F): 0

(13) Exemption 8: 0

(14) Exemption 9: 0

4. Other reasons for nondisclosure (total): 0

a. No records: 0

b. Referrals: 0

c. Request withdrawn: 0

d. Fee-related reason: 0

e. Records not reasonably described: 0

f. Not a proper FOIA request for some other reason: 0

g. Not an agency record: 0

h. Duplicate request: 0

i. Other: 0

VII. Compliance with Time Limits/Status of Pending Requests

A. Median processing time for requests processed during the year

1. Simple requests (if multiple tracks used)

a. Number of requests processed: N/A (multiple tracks not used)

b. Median number of days to process: N/A (multiple tracks not used)

2. Complex requests (specify for tracks used)

a. Number of requests processed: 0

b. Median number of days to process: 0

3. Requests accorded expedited processing

a. Number of requests processed: 0

b. Median number of days to process: N/A

B. Status of pending requests

1. Number of requests pending at end of FY 98: 0

2. Median number of days that such requests were pending at that date: 0

VIII. Comparisons with previous year(s) (optional)

IX. Costs/FOIA Staffing

A. Staffing levels

1. Number of full time FOIA personnel: 0

2. Number of personnel with part-time or occasional FOIA duties: 2

3. Total number of personnel: 2

B. Total costs (including staff and all resources)

1. FOIA processing: approximately $5,000

2. Litigation-related activities: 0

3. Total costs: approximately $5,000

C. Statement of additional resources needed for FOIA compliance

The Copyright Office is assessing the volume of FOIA requests it receives under the EFOIA and the staff time spent to address the requests. This Office operates in the spirit of open government and accessibility to information. Many of the requests this Office receives are not, in fact, FOIA material, but can be very adequately answered by the Office by use of its public information facilities. This is an office of record regarding copyright registrations, as well as transfers and assignments of copyright ownership. Information about the federal copyright law is also available here. Rarely is there the need to file a FOIA request to receive information from the Copyright Office.

X. Fees

A. Total fees collected by agency for processing requests in FY 98: 0

B. Percentage of total costs: 0

FOIA regulations regarding the Copyright Office, Library of Congress, can be found at 37 CFR 203. Privacy Act regulations can be found at 37 CFR 204.