Copyright Office Seeks Public Comment on Technological Upgrades to Recordation System | Practical Law

Copyright Office Seeks Public Comment on Technological Upgrades to Recordation System | Practical Law

The Copyright Office is requesting public comment on proposed key elements of a strategic plan for improving recordation services.

Copyright Office Seeks Public Comment on Technological Upgrades to Recordation System

by Practical Law Intellectual Property & Technology
Published on 14 Jan 2014 • USA (National/Federal)
The Copyright Office is requesting public comment on proposed key elements of a strategic plan for improving recordation services.
On January 14, 2014, the US Copyright Office issued a notice of inquiry concerning modernizing and improving its copyright document recordation services (79 Fed. Reg. 2696-01 (Jan. 15, 2014)). The notice notes that over the last two years, the Copyright Office has sought comments on technological upgrades to the recordation function and has held focused discussions with various stakeholders, including copyright owners, users of copyright records, technical experts, public interest organizations, lawyers, and professional and industry associations. The most prominent, recurring concerns about document recordation are cost, processing time, inconvenience of remitting and cataloguing inaccuracies.
In response to these concerns, the Copyright Office is considering and now seeking comment on the following elements of a strategic plan for improving recordation services:
  • A guided remitter responsibility model of electronic recordation.
  • The use of structured electronic documents that contain their own indexing information.
  • The linking of recordation records to registration records.
  • The use of standard identifiers and other metadata standards, in recorded documents and the catalog of these documents.
  • Potential additional statutory incentives to record documents pertaining to copyright.
Public comments are due on or before March 15, 2014. The Copyright Office will hold public hearings following the close of the public comment period on dates to be determined. Additional information is available in the notice of inquiry.