Librarian of Congress Appoints Interim Chief Copyright Royalty Judge

Bruce Forrest has been appointed the Interim Chief Copyright Royalty Judge effective Feb. 7, 2005.  Forrest will serve until the Librarian of Congress appoints three Copyright Royalty Judges (CRJs) who initially will serve two- to six-year terms, which are expected to commence on or after May 31st, the effective date of the Copyright Royalty and Distribution Reform Act of 2004. 

Mr. Forrest retired from the Civil Division of the Department of Justice in 2002 with 30 years experience as an attorney. During his tenure at the Department, he represented the Copyright Royalty Tribunal (CRT) and the Librarian of Congress in many proceedings and handled many of the cases that established the judicial precedent that will guide the CRJs in their deliberations.

With the enactment of the Copyright Royalty and Distribution Reform Act of 2004 (P.L. 108-419) on Nov. 30, 2004, the CARP system that had been part of the Copyright Office since 1993 is being phased out. The Act replaced CARP (which itself replaced the CRT in 1993) with a system of three CRJs, who will determine rates and terms for the copyright statutory licenses and make determinations on distribution of statutory license royalties collected by the Copyright Office. The CRJs will be full-time employees in the Library who will be appointed for six-year terms with an opportunity for reappointment.  However, the first three judges shall serve two-, four- and six-year terms in order to establish a cycle that avoids replacing all three CRJs at the same time.