U.S. Copyright Office
Freedom of Information
Act, Annual Report
Fiscal Year 2007
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 FOIA Public Liaison Public Information Office Mail: GC/I&R P.O. Box 70400 Washington, D.C. 20024 Telephone: (202) 707-0600 FAX: (202) 707-6859
Renée Coe Senior Attorney Advisor Office of the General Counsel Mail: GC/I&R P.O. Box 70400 Washington, D.C. 20024 Telephone: (202) 707-8388 FAX: (202) 707-8366 B. Electronic address for report on the World Wide Web
C. How to obtain a copy of the report in paper form
Contact Mr. Peter Vankevich, FOIA Public Liaison, 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. Agency’s response-time ranges
The median response time for responding to initial requests in FY 2007 was 5 working days.
C. Why some requests are not granted
The Copyright Office (CO) is unable to grant a request for information that is not contained within its records. Similarly, although the CO is a service unit within the Library of Congress (LOC), it is unable to grant requests with respect to information about the LOC’s operations, and thus forwards such requests directly to the LOC. During FY 2007, the CO received one (1) request for information not contained in the CO’s records, one (1) request that was referred to the Copyright Royalty Board (an independent unit within LOC), and 14 requests that it referred to the LOC. The CO does not grant FOIA requests for information that it already makes publicly available pursuant to 17 U.S.C. §§ 705 - 707 and 37 C.F.R. § 201.2 (Information given by the Copyright Office). The CO received 15 such requests in FY 2007, and provided the requesters with information about their ability both to perform a free search of copyright registrations and related records and to request the CO to perform a search of such records for a fee. The CO may withhold some requested records under the applicable and specified exemptions.
III. Definitions of Terms and Acronyms Used in the Report
A. Agency-specific acronyms or other terms
- CO — United States Copyright Office
- LOC — Library of Congress
B. Basic terms
FOIA/PA request — a Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act 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.
Initial request — a request to a federal agency for access to records under the Freedom of Information Act.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
Grant — an agency decision to disclose all records in full in response to a FOIA request.
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 entirety, but to withhold others in whole or in part.
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.
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).
“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.
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).
Median number — the middle, not average, number. For example, of 3, 7, and 14, the median number is 7.
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 relied on during current fiscal year
None for FY 2007.
- Brief description of type(s) of information withheld under each statute:
- Statement of whether a court has upheld the use of each statute. If so, then cite example:
V. Initial FOIA/PA Access Requests
A. Numbers of initial requests
1. Pending as of end of preceding fiscal year: 0 2. Received during current fiscal year: 44 3. Processed during current fiscal year: 42 4. Pending as of end of current fiscal year: 2 (See VII.B.1.) B. Disposition of initial requests
1. Number of total grants: 6 2. Number of partial grants: 1 3. Number of denials: 0 a. Number of times each FOIA exemption used (counting each exemption once per request, but multiple exemptions may apply to one request):
(1) Exemption 1 0 (2) Exemption 2: 0 (3) Exemption 3: 0 (4) Exemption 4: 0 (5) Exemption 5: 1 (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): 35
a. no records: 1 b. referral: 15 c. request withdrawn: 1 d. fee-related: 0 e. records not reasonably described: 2 f. not a proper FOIA request for some other reason: 0 g. not an agency record: 1 h. duplicate request: 0 i. other (specify): 15
The CO does not grant FOIA requests for copyright registrations and related information that the CO already makes publicly available pursuant to 17 U.S.C. §§ 705 - 707 and 37 C.F.R. § 201.2 (Information Provided by the Copyright Office). The CO received 15 such requests in FY 2007 under the FOIA, and provided the requesters with information about their ability both to perform a free search of copyright registrations and related records and to request the CO to perform a search of such records for a fee.
VI. Appeals of Initial Denials of FOIA/PA Requests
A. Number of appeals
1. Received during fiscal year: 1 2. 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, but multiple exemptions may apply to one 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. referral: 0 c. request withdrawn: 0 d. fee-related: 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 (specify): 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): CO does not use multiple tracks. a. number of requests processed: 42 b. median number of days to process: 5 2. Complex requests (specify any and all tracks used): CO does not use multiple tracks. 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: 0 B. Status of pending requests
- Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year: 2 (One of these, received 3/19/07, was suspended on 7/10/07 through the rest of the fiscal year for fee-related reasons.)
- Median number of working days that such requests were pending at that date: The actual numbers of working days for each of the two pending requests are 12 and 79.
VIII. Comparison with Previous Years (Optional)
A. Number of requests received
FY 2007: 44 FY 2006: 39 B. Number of requests processed
FY 2007: 42 FY 2006: 39 C. Median number of days requests were pending as of end of fiscal year
FY 2007: The actual numbers of working days for each of the two pending requests are 12 and 79. See VII.B.1, above. FY 2006: 0 D. Other statistics significant to agency
E. Other narrative statements describing agency efforts to improve timeliness of FOIA performance and to make records available to the public (e.g., backlog-reduction efforts; specification of average number of hours per processed request; training activities; public availability of new categories of records)
See section XII.
IX. Costs/FOIA Staffing
A. Staffing levels for current fiscal year
1. Number of full-time FOIA personnel: 0 2. Number of personnel with part-time or occasional FOIA duties (in total work-years): 0.54 3. Total number of personnel (in work-years): 0.54 B. Total costs for current fiscal year (including staff and all resources)
1. FOIA processing (including appeals): $71,000 2. Litigation-related activities (estimated): $0 3. Total costs: $71,000 4. Comparison with previous year(s) (including percentage of change) (optional):
FY 2007 Increase FY2006 staffing level: 0.12 350% FY2006 total costs: $10,500 576% C. Statement of additional resources needed for FOIA compliance (optional)
X. Fees Collected
A. Total fees collected by agency for processing requests
$267
B. Percentage of total costs
Less than half of one percent.
XI. FOIA Regulations (Including Fee Schedule)
The Copyright Office’s regulations relating to the FOIA are located at 37 C.F.R. Part 203. Regulations relating to the Privacy Act are located at 37 C.F.R. Part 204. The Internet address for these regulations is http://www.copyright.gov/title37.
XII. Report on FOIA Executive Order Implementation
A. Description of supplementation/modification of agency improvement plan (if applicable)
The Copyright Office has not supplemented or modified its improvement plan this year.
B. Report on agency implementation of its plan, including its performance in meeting milestones, with respect to each improvement area
Most of the milestones in the Copyright Office FOIA Improvement Plan were accomplished last year. Areas one, two and five of the Improvement Plan are completed. Areas three and four are partially completed and, along with area six, will be completed next year. As part of its proposed improvements, the Copyright Office is amending its FOIA regulation to incorporate changes that will better inform the public about Copyright Office FOIA operations. However, the Copyright Office has decided to update its FOIA regulation with a comprehensive revision that incorporates changes beyond those identified in the FOIA Improvement Plan. Consequently, more time is needed to complete this milestone. A draft of the revised regulation was completed in October of 2007. It will be revised to include the FOIA amendments signed into law on December 31, 2007 as the OPEN Government Act. The draft must also complete the internal review process to receive final agency approval before being published in the Federal Register. This milestone will be accomplished by December 31, 2008. Another milestone that will be completed in 2008 is preparing frequently asked questions (FAQs). After the FOIA regulations are amended, the FAQs will be edited as needed to be consistent with any changes. For area five, the Copyright Office prepared a FOIA Reference Guide that is available at its website. For area six, standard operating procedures will be developed to be included in a FOIA training manual for employees.
C. Identification and discussion of any deficiency in meeting plan milestones (if applicable)
Deficiency:
FOIA Improvement Plan area to which the deficient milestone relates:
Area 3: Identify Subject Matter for Proactive Disclosure.Deficient milestone and the original target date from the FOIA Improvement Plan:
Area 3: Amend FOIA regulation. December 31, 2007Steps taken to correct the deficiency and the dates by which the steps were completed:
As part of its proposed improvements, the Copyright Office is amending its FOIA regulation to incorporate changes that will better inform the public about Copyright Office FOIA operations. However, the Copyright Office has decided to update its FOIA regulation with a comprehensive revision that incorporates changes beyond those identified in the FOIA Improvement Plan. Consequently, more time is needed to complete this milestone. A draft of the revised regulation was completed in October of 2007.Future remedial steps and the dates by which the steps will be completed:
The draft regulation will be revised to include the FOIA amendments signed into law on December 31, 2007, as the OPEN Government Act. It must also complete the internal review process to receive final agency approval before being published in the Federal Register. This milestone will be accomplished by December 31, 2008.Deficiency:
FOIA Improvement Plan area to which the deficient milestone relates:
Area 4: Review Website to Identify Improvements.Deficient milestone and the original target date from the FOIA Improvement Plan:
Area 4: Prepare frequently asked questions (FAQs) and post on website. December 31, 2007Steps taken to correct the deficiency and the dates by which the steps were completed:
None.Future remedial steps and the dates by which the steps will be completed:
FAQs will be available on the Copyright Office’s FOIA website by June 1, 2008. After the FOIA regulations are amended, they will be edited as needed to be consistent with any changes.
D. Additional narrative statement regarding other executive order-related activities (optional)
The Copyright Office has started work on implementing milestones slated for 2008.
E. Concise descriptions of FOIA exemptions
The FOIA provides access to all federal agency records (or portions of those records), except for those records that are withheld under any of nine exemptions or three exclusions (i.e., the reasons for which an agency may withhold records from a requester). The exemptions authorize federal agencies to withhold information covering: (1) classified national defense and foreign relations information; (2) internal agency rules and practices; (3) information that is prohibited from disclosure by another federal law; (4) trade secrets and other confidential business information; (5) inter-agency or intra-agency communications that are protected by legal privileges; (6) information involving matters of personal privacy; (7) records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, to the extent that the production of those records (A) could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings, (B) would deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication, (C) could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, (D) could reasonably be expected to disclose the identity of a confidential source, (E) would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, or would disclose guidelines for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, or (F) could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual; (8) information relating to the supervision of financial institutions; and (9) geological information on wells. The exemptions most often relevant to Copyright Office records are Exemptions 5 and 6. The three exclusions, which are rarely used, pertain to especially sensitive law enforcement and national security matters.
F. Additional statistics
- Ten Oldest Pending FOIA Requests: One
Calendar Year 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Requests March 19
- Consultations
- Number of Consultations Received, Processed, and Pending:
None.
Consultations Received From Other Agencies During FY07 Consultations Received From Other Agencies That Were Processed by Your Agency During FY07 (includes those received prior to FY07) Consultations Received From Other Agencies That Were Pending at Your Agency as of October 1, 2007 (includes those received prior to FY07) 0 0 0
- Ten Oldest Pending Consultations Received from Other Agencies:
None.
Calendar Year 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Consults Received 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 G. Agency improvement plan (in current form):
The Copyright Office’s improvement plan is located at http://www.copyright.gov/foia/foia_exec_13392.html.