U.S. Copyright Office
Freedom of Information Act, Annual Report
Fiscal Year 2003

I. Basic Information Regarding Report

A. Name, title, address, and telephone number of person(s) to be contacted with questions about the report

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

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

B. Electronic address for report on the World Wide Web

http://www.copyright.gov/foia

C. How to obtain a copy of the report in paper form

Contact Mr. Vankevich at the address or telephone number listed in part I.A. above.

II. How to Make a FOIA Request

A. Names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all individual agency components and offices that receive FOIA requests

This information is available on the Copyright Office's website listed in part I.B. above.

B. Brief description of the agency's response-time ranges

The median response time for responding to initial requests in FY 2003 was 4 working days.

C. Brief description of why some requests may not be granted

The Copyright Office (CO) withheld requested information under one or more of the reasons included in Section V.B.4. Some FOIA requests relate to material not maintained by the CO. Some of these such as those about operations the Library of Congress (LOC) performs are forwarded to LOC for response. The CO forwarded 12 requests to the LOC. Normally LOC tries to respond, however, some of the requests forwarded to LOC are subject to FOIA exemptions. Of the 18 requests not forwarded to the LOC, 6 of them have been designated as nondisclosure (17 USC, chap 7). And of the 6, the CO did not perform a free search but told the requester how he or she could search registration or recordation records for free. The CO also gave the requester information on applicable fees should the requester want the CO to perform the search. These responses were processed under the terms of 17 U.S.C. §706(a) as established in CO regulations for search and retrieval of registration and recordation materials. No requests were denied.

III. Definitions of Terms and Acronyms Used in the Report

A. Agency-specific acronyms or other terms

1. CO — U.S. Copyright Office

2. LOC — Library of Congress

B. Basic terms, expressed in common terminology

1. FOIA/PA request — a FOIA request is generally a request for access to records concerning a third party, an 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.

2. Initial request — a request to a federal agency for access to records under the Freedom of Information Act.

3. 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 Freedom of Information Act, or any other FOIA determination such as a matter pertaining to fees.

4. 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.

5. Multi-track processing — a system in which simple requests requiring relatively minimal review are placed in one processing track and more voluminous and complex requests are placed in one or more other tracks. Requests in each track are processed on a first-in/first-out basis. A requester who has an urgent need for records may request expedited processing (see below).

6. Expedited processing — an agency will process a FOIA request on an expedited basis when a requester has shown an exceptional need or urgency for the records which warrants prioritization of his or her request over other requests that were made earlier.

7. Simple request — a FOIA request that an agency using multi-track processing places in its fastest (non-expedited) track based on the volume and/or simplicity of records requested.

8. Complex request — a FOIA request that an agency using multi-track processing places in a slower track based on the volume and/or complexity of records requested.

9. Grant — an agency decision to disclose all records in full in response to a FOIA request.

10. Partial grant — an agency decision to disclose a record in part in response to a FOIA request, deleting information determined to be exempt under one or more of the FOIA's exemptions; or a decision to disclose some records in their entireties, but to withhold others in whole or in part.

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

12. Time limits — the time period in the Freedom of Information Act for an agency to respond to a FOIA request, (ordinarily 20 working days from proper receipt of a “perfected” FOIA request).

13. “Perfected” request — a FOIA request for records which adequately describes the records sought, which has been received by the FOIA office of the agency or agency component in possession of the records, and for which there is no remaining question about the payment of applicable fees.

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

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

16. Average number — the number obtained by dividing the sum of a group of numbers by the quantity of numbers in the group. For example, of 3, 7, and 14, the average number is 8.

IV. Exemption 3 Statutes

A. List of exemption 3 statutes the agency may have relied upon in FY 2003

None

V. Initial FOIA/Privacy Act Access Requests

A. Numbers of initial requests

1. Number of requests pending as of beginning of FY 2003: 3¹

2. Number of requests received during FY 2003: 27

3. Number of requests processed during FY 2003: 30

4. Number of requests pending as of end of FY 2003: 0

B. Disposition of initial requests

1. Number of total grants: 10

2. Number of partial grants: 1

3. Number of denials: 0

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 non-disclosure (total): 19

a. No records: 0

b. Referrals: 12

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: 6

With regard to the Copyright Office records, many requests for records under the FOIA are covered by the Copyright law and its regulations, particularly sections 701(e)/705(c) 17 U.S.C. In those cases, the requestor is informed on the procedures for this access.

VI. Appeals of Initial Denials of FOIA/PA Requests

A. Number of appeals

1. Number of appeals received during FY 2003: 0

2. Number of appeals processed during fiscal year: 0

B. Disposition of appeals

1. Number completely upheld: N/A

2. Number partially reversed: N/A

3. Number completely reversed: N/A

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

(1) Exemption 1: N/A

(2) Exemption 2: N/A

(3) Exemption 3: N/A

(4) Exemption 4: N/A

(5) Exemption 5: N/A

(6) Exemption 6: N/A

(7) Exemption 7(A): N/A

(8) Exemption 7(B): N/A

(9) Exemption 7(C): N/A

(10) Exemption 7(D): N/A

(11) Exemption 7(E): N/A

(12) Exemption 7(F): N/A

(13) Exemption 8: N/A

(14) Exemption 9: N/A

4. Other reasons for non-disclosure (total): N/A

a. No records:N/A

b. Referrals: N/A

c. Request withdrawn: N/A

d. Fee-related reason: N/A

e. Records not reasonably described: N/A

f. Not a proper FOIA request for some other reason: N/A

g. Not an agency record: N/A

h. Duplicate request: N/A

i. Other: N/A

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: N/A (multiple tracks not used)

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

3. All requests (both simple and complex)

a. Number of requests processed: 30

b. Median number of working days to process: 4 working days

4. 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 2003: 0

2. Median number of days that such requests were pending at that date: N/A

VIII. Comparison with previous years

A. Comparison of numbers of requests received

FY 2001: 48

FY 2002: 36

FY 2003: 27

B. Comparison of numbers of requests processed

FY 2002: 37

FY 2003: 30

C. Comparison of median numbers of days requests were pending as of end of fiscal year

FY 2002: 40

FY 2003: 0

D. Requests for expedited processing: 0

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 expressed in total work years: 0.072

3. Total number of personnel (expressed in total work years):0.072

B. Total costs (including staff and all resources)

1. FOIA processing including appeals: $0

2. Litigation-related activities: $0

3. Total costs: approximately $7,000

X. Fees

A. Total fees collected by agency for processing requests in FY 2003: 0

B. Percentage of total costs: 0

XI. FOIA Regulations

FOIA regulations regarding the Copyright Office, Library of Congress, are located at 37 CFR 203. Privacy Act regulations are located at 37 CFR 204.

¹Due to an administrative oversight in the FY 2002 Annual Report, it inadvertently reports that 2 requests were pending as of end of FY2002. The correct number is 3 requests.