(a) General. This section prescribes rules pertaining to the acquisition of phonorecords and copies of unpublished audio and audiovisual transmission programs by the Library of Congress under section 407(e) of title 17 of the United States Code, as amended. It also prescribes rules pertaining to the use of such phonorecords and copies in the registration of claims to copyright, under section 408(b).

(b) Definitions. For purposes of this section:

(1) The terms copies, fixed, phonorecords, publication, and transmission program and their variant forms, have the meanings given to them in section 101 of title 17. The term network station has the meaning given it in section 111(f) of title 17. For the purpose of this section, the term transmission includes transmission via the Internet, cable, broadcasting, and satellite systems, and via any other existing or future devices or processes for the communication of a performance or display whereby images or sounds are received beyond the place from which they are sent.

(2) Title 17 means title 17 of the United States Code, as amended.

(c) Recording of transmission programs.

(1) Library of Congress employees, including Library of Congress contractors, acting under the general authority of the Librarian of Congress, may make a fixation of an unpublished audio or audiovisual transmission program directly from a transmission to the public in the United States, in accordance with subsections 407(e)(1) and (4) of title 17 of the United States Code. The choice of programs selected for fixation shall be based on the Library of Congress's acquisition policies in effect at the time of fixation. Specific notice of an intent to record a transmission program will ordinarily not be given. In general, the Library of Congress will seek to record a substantial portion of the television programming transmitted by noncommercial educational broadcast stations as defined in section 397 of title 47 of the United States Code, and will record selected programming transmitted by commercial television broadcast stations, both network and independent. The Library will also record a selected portion of the radio programming transmitted by commercial and noncommercial broadcast stations. Additionally, the Library will record a selected portion of unpublished Internet, cable and satellite programming transmitted to the public in the United States.

(2) Upon written request addressed to the Chief, Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division by a broadcast station or other owner of the right of transmission, the Library of Congress will inform the requestor whether a particular transmission program has been recorded by the Library.

(3) The Library of Congress will not knowingly record any unfixed or published transmission program under the recording authority of section 407(e) of title 17 of the United States Code.

(4) The Library of Congress is entitled under this paragraph (c) to presume that a radio program transmitted to the public in the United States has been fixed but not published at the time of transmission, and that a television program transmitted to the public in the United States by a noncommercial educational broadcast station as defined in section 397 of title 47 of the United States Code has been fixed but not published.

(5) The presumption established by paragraph (c)(4) of this section may be overcome by written declaration and submission of appropriate documentary evidence to the Chief, Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division, either before or after recording of the particular transmission program by the Library of Congress. Such written submission shall contain:

(i) The identification, by title and time of broadcast, of the transmission program in question;

(ii) A brief statement declaring either that the program was not fixed or that it was published at the time of transmission;

(iii) If it is declared that the program was published at the time of transmission, a brief statement of the facts of publication, including the date and place thereof, the method of publication, the name of the owner of the right of first publication, and whether the work was published in the United States; and

(iv) The actual handwritten signature of an officer or other duly authorized agent of the organization which transmitted the program in question.

(6) A declaration that the program was unfixed at the time of transmission shall be accepted by the Library of Congress, unless the Library can cite evidence to the contrary, and the copy or phonorecord will either be

(i) Erased; or

(ii) Retained, if requested by the owner of copyright or of any exclusive right, to satisfy the deposit provision of section 408 of title 17 of the United States Code.

(7) If it is declared that the program was published at the time of transmission, the Library of Congress is entitled under this section to retain the copy or phonorecord to satisfy the deposit requirement of section 407(a) of title 17 of the United States Code.

(8) The Library of Congress shall maintain a list of the radio, cable, Internet and satellite transmission programs that the Library has recorded on the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division website at http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/ for audio transmission programs, or http://www.loc.gov/rr/mopic/ for audiovisual transmission programs, and, in making fixations of such unpublished transmission programs, shall identify a program that the Library has recorded by including that transmission program on the list no later than fourteen days after such fixation has occurred. The Library of Congress in making fixations of unpublished television transmission programs transmitted by commercial broadcast stations shall not do so without notifying the transmitting organization or its agent that such activity is taking place. In the case of television network stations, the notification will be sent to the particular network. In the case of any other commercial television broadcasting station, the notification will be sent to the particular broadcast station that has transmitted, or will transmit, the program. Such notice shall, if possible, be given by the Library of Congress prior to the time of broadcast. In every case, the Library of Congress shall transmit such notice no later than fourteen days after such fixation has occurred. Such notice shall contain:

(i) The identification, by title and time of broadcast, of the transmission program in question;

(ii) A brief statement asserting the Library of Congress' belief that the transmission program has been, or will be by the date of transmission, fixed and is unpublished, together with language converting the notice to a demand for deposit under section 407 (a) and (b) of title 17 of the United States Code, if the transmission program has been published in the United States.

(9) The notice required by paragraph (c)(8) of this section shall not cover more than one transmission program except that the notice may cover up to thirteen episodes of one title if such episodes are generally scheduled to be broadcast at the same time period on a regular basis, or may cover all the episodes comprising the title if they are scheduled to be broadcast within a period of not more than two months.

(d) Demands for deposit of a transmission program.

(1) The Register of Copyrights may make a written demand upon the owner of the right of transmission in the United States to deposit a copy or phonorecord of a specific transmission program for the benefit of the Library of Congress under the authority of section 407(e)(2) of title 17 of the United States Code.

(2) The Register of Copyrights is entitled to presume, unless clear evidence to the contrary is proffered, that the transmitting organization is the owner of the United States transmission right.

(3) Notices of demand shall be in writing and shall contain:

(i) The identification, by title and time of broadcast, of the work in question;

(ii) An explanation of the optional forms of compliance, including transfer of ownership of a copy or phonorecord to the Library, lending a copy or phonorecord to the Library for reproduction, or selling a copy or phonorecord to the Library at a price not to exceed the cost of reproducing and supplying the copy or phonorecord;

(iii) A ninety-day deadline by which time either compliance or a request for an extension of a request to adjust the scope of the demand or the method for fulfilling it shall have been received by the Register of Copyrights;

(iv) A brief description of the controls which are placed on the use of the copies or phonorecords;

(v) A statement concerning the Register's perception of the publication status of the program, together with language converting this demand to a demand for a deposit, under 17 U.S.C. 407, if the recipient takes the position that the work is published; and

(vi) A statement that a compliance copy, or in the case of an audio transmission program, a compliance phonorecord, must be made and retained if the notice is received prior to transmission.

(4) With respect to paragraph (d)(3)(ii) of this section, the sale of a copy or phonorecord in compliance with a demand of this nature shall be at a price not to exceed the cost to the Library of reproducing and supplying the copy or phonorecord. The notice of demand should therefore inform the recipient of that cost and set that cost, plus reasonable shipping charges, as the maximum price for such a sale.

(5) Copies and phonorecords transferred, lent, or sold under paragraph (d) of this section shall be of sound physical condition as described in Appendix A to this section.

(6) Special relief. In the case of any demand made under paragraph (d) of this section the Register of Copyrights may, after consultation with other appropriate officials of the Library of Congress and upon such conditions as the Register may determine after such consultation,

(i) Extend the time period provided in subparagraph (d)(3)(iii);

(ii) Make adjustments in the scope of the demand; or

(iii) Make adjustments in the method of fulfilling the demand. Any decision as to whether to allow such extension or adjustments shall be made by the Register of Copyrights after consultation with other appropriate officials of the Library of Congress and shall be made as reasonably warranted by the circumstances. Requests for special relief under paragraph (d) of this section shall be made in writing to the Copyright Acquisitions Division, shall be signed by or on behalf of the owner of the right of transmission in the United States and shall set forth the specific reasons why the request should be granted.

(e) Disposition and use of copies and phonorecords.

(1) All copies and phonorecords acquired under this section shall be maintained by the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division of the Library of Congress. The Library may make one archival copy or phonorecord of a program which it has fixed under the provisions of section 407(e)(1) of title 17 of the United States Code and paragraph (c) of this section.

(2) All copies and phonorecords acquired or made under this section, except copies and phonorecords of transmission programs consisting of a regularly scheduled newscast or on-the-spot coverage of news events, shall be subject to the following restrictions concerning copying and access: in the case of television or other audiovisual transmission programs, copying and access are governed by Library of Congress Regulation 818-17, Policies Governing the Use and Availability of Motion Pictures and Other Audiovisual Works in the Collections of the Library of Congress, or its successors; in the case of audio transmission programs, copying and access are governed by Library of Congress Regulation 818-18.1, Recorded Sound Listening and Duplication Services, or its successors. Transmission programs consisting of regularly scheduled newscasts or on-the-spot coverage of news events are subject to the provisions of the “American Television and Radio Archives Act,” 2 U.S.C. 170, and such regulations as the Librarian of Congress shall prescribe.

(f) Registration of claims to copyright.

(1) Copies and phonorecords fixed by the Library of Congress under the provisions of paragraph (c) of this section may be used as the deposit for copyright registration provided that:

(i) The application and fee, in a form acceptable for registration, is received by the Copyright Office no later than ninety days after transmission of the program, and

(ii) Correspondence received by the Copyright Office in the envelope containing the application and fee states that a fixation of the instant work was made by the Library of Congress and requests that the copy or phonorecord so fixed be used to satisfy the registration deposit provisions.

(2) Copies and phonorecords transferred, lent, or sold to the Library of Congress under the provisions of paragraph (d) of this section may be used as the deposit for copyright registration purposes only when the application and fee, in a form acceptable for registration, accompany, in the same container, the copy or phonorecord lent, transferred, or sold, and there is an explanation that the copy or phonorecord is intended to satisfy both the demand issued under section 407(e)(2) of title 17 of the United States Code and the registration deposit provisions.

(g) Agreements modifying the terms of this section.

(1) The Library of Congress may, at its sole discretion, enter into an agreement whereby the provision of copies or phonorecords of unpublished audio or audiovisual transmission programs on terms different from those contained in this section is authorized.

(2) Any such agreement may be terminated without notice by the Library of Congress.

(17 U.S.C. 407, 408, 702)

[48 FR 37208, Aug. 17, 1983, as amended at 56 FR 7815, Feb. 26, 1991; 60 FR 34168, June 30, 1995; 64 FR 36575, July 7, 1999; 66 FR 34373, June 28, 2001; 69 FR 62411, Oct. 26, 2004; 82 FR 9362, Feb. 6, 2017]