The register of copyrights lacks the authority to resolve disputes...
The register of copyrights lacks the authority to resolve disputes about whether a TV station belongs on its list of “specialty stations,” the Copyright Office said. The list is now used in statutory licenses for TV station carriage calculations. The…
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MPAA had said the register of copyrights could resolve disputes over whether a specific station should be identified as a specialty station (CD Nov 9 p20). Though no parties responded to that suggestion in pleadings, the Copyright Office disagreed, it said in a notice published in Wednesday’s Federal Register. “There is no statutory authority” under Section 411(b)(1) of the Copyright Act for the register to make such determinations, the notice said. That section deals with a different element of copyright law entirely and has no “words, phrases or terms that tie this provision in any way to Section 111, much less specialty stations,” the notice said. The office’s hands are tied when in such matters, the notice said. “The policies and procedures for creating this list are limited in scope and do not establish a process by which the Office can resolve the specialty status of a particular station, regardless of purported facts.” The office said it got affidavits from 63 TV stations attesting to their specialty status: http://xrl.us/bmzp5i.