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15 March 2012 Exemption to Prohibition on Circumvention of Copyright Protection Systems for Access Control Technologies
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 51 (Thursday, March 15, 2012)] [Proposed Rules] [Pages 15327-15329] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 2012-6333] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Copyright Office 37 CFR Part 201 [Docket No. RM 2011-7] Notice of Public Hearings: Exemption to Prohibition on Circumvention of Copyright Protection Systems for Access Control Technologies AGENCY: Copyright Office, Library of Congress. ACTION: Notice of Public Hearings. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Copyright Office of the Library of Congress (``Office'') will be holding public hearings on the possible exemptions to the prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works. In accordance with the Copyright Act, as amended by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Office is conducting its triennial rulemaking proceeding to determine whether there are particular ``classes of [[Page 15328]] works'' as to which users are, or are likely to be, adversely affected in their ability to make noninfringing uses if they are prohibited from circumventing such technological measures. The first day of hearings will be dedicated to demonstrations of technology relevant to the rulemaking proceeding. DATES: The first public hearing, confined to demonstrations of technology, will be held in Washington, DC on Friday, May 11, 2012 at 10 a.m. Public hearings will also be conducted in Los Angeles, California at 9 a.m. on Thursday, May 17, 2012 and Friday, May 18, 2012, and in Washington, DC at 9 a.m. on Thursday, May 31, 2012, Friday, June 1, 2012, and Monday, June 4 through Wednesday, June 6, 2012. Requests to testify must be received by 5 p.m. E.D.T. on Monday, April 2, 2012. See the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below for more information on the hearing dates and for additional information on other requirements. ADDRESSES: The Los Angeles hearings will be held in the Moot Courtroom (Room 1310) of the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law, 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA. The Washington, DC round of public hearings will be held in the Copyright Hearing Room, LM-408 of the James Madison Building of the Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave. SE., Washington, DC. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for additional address information and other requirements. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ben Golant, Assistant General Counsel, Office of the General Counsel, Copyright GC/I&R, P.O. Box 70400, Washington, DC 20024-0400. Telephone (202) 707-8380; fax (202) 707- 8366. Requests to testify may be submitted through the request form available at http://www.copyright.gov/1201/hearing-request. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On September 29, 2011, the Copyright Office published a Notice of Inquiry seeking comments in connection with its rulemaking pursuant to Section 1201(a)(1) of the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. 1201(a)(1), which provides that the Librarian of Congress may exempt certain classes of works from the prohibition against circumventing a technological measure that controls access to a copyrighted work. 76 FR 60398 (Sept. 29, 2011). On December 20, 2011, the Office published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking listing the proposed exemptions and requesting responsive comments. 76 FR 78866 (Dec. 20, 2011). The classes of works proposed for exemption and the responsive comments and reply comments have been posted on the Office's Web site, along with the other notices published in the current rulemaking proceeding and a more complete statement of the background and purpose of the rulemaking. See http://www.copyright.gov/1201/. The Office will be conducting public hearings in Los Angeles, California and Washington, DC to hear testimony relating to the proposed exemptions in this rulemaking. Interested parties are invited to submit requests to testify at these hearings. The dates for the hearings in Los Angeles, CA are May 17, 2012 and May 18, 2012. The dates for the Washington, DC hearings are May 31, June 1, 2012, and June 4 through June 6, 2012. Depending on the number of requests to testify received by the Copyright Office, it may not be necessary to conduct hearings on all of the available days. Updated information on the times and dates of the hearings may be found at http://www.copyright.gov/1201/. The hearings will be organized by subject matter, and while the Copyright Office will attempt to accommodate preferences for particular dates, such accommodations may not be possible. These hearings will be organized into separate sessions on each of the proposed classes of works. Witnesses testifying in support of and in opposition to each class will testify as part of the same panel. Testimony shall consist of presentations of facts and legal argument, followed by questions from Copyright Office staff. In addition to the hearings described above, the Office will be conducting a special ``Technology Hearing'' to give proponents and opponents of proposed classes of works an opportunity to conduct demonstrations of various technologies pertinent to the merits of the proposals. This hearing will be primarily factual in nature. Witnesses wishing to present demonstrations are asked to do so at this hearing rather than at the other hearings, in order to permit the other hearings to proceed on schedule. Witnesses will be responsible for providing any hardware or software necessary to conduct a demonstration. This hearing shall take place on Friday, May 11, 2012 in Washington, DC. The Office believes that conducting this hearing one week before the commencement of the other hearings will give Copyright Office staff and other witnesses an opportunity to take the technology demonstrations into account at the later hearings. The Office is exploring the possibility of audiovisual streaming of the Technology Hearing, at least to persons who will be witnesses at the later hearing and will be unable to attend the Technology Hearing. However, at this time the Office does not know whether that will be possible. Persons wishing to testify at the later hearings who wish to have access to such streaming if it is available should indicate their interest in their requests to testify. All hearings will be open to the public, but seating will be limited. Witnesses and persons accompanying witnesses will be given priority in seating. Requirements for persons desiring to testify: A request to testify must be submitted to the Copyright Office. All requests to testify must clearly identify: |