[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 37, Volume 1]
[Revised as of July 1, 1999]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 37CFR201.29]
[Page 399-401]
TITLE 37--PATENTS, TRADEMARKS, AND COPYRIGHTS
CONGRESS
PART 201--GENERAL PROVISIONS--Table of Contents
Sec. 201.29 Access to, and confidentiality of, Statements of Account, Verification Auditor's Reports, and other verification information filed in the Copyright
Office for digital audio recording devices or media.
(a) General. This section prescribes rules covering access to DART
Statements of Account, including the Primary Auditor's Reports, filed
under 17 U.S.C. 1003(c) and access to a Verifying Auditor's Report or
other information that may be filed in the Office in a DART verification
procedure as set out in Sec. 201.30. It also prescribes rules to ensure
confidential disclosure of these materials to appropriate parties.
(b) Definitions.
(1) Access includes inspection of and supervised making of notes on
information contained in Statements of Account including Primary
Auditor's Reports, Verification Auditor's Reports, and any other
verification information.
(2) Audit and Verification Information means the reports of the
Primary Auditor and Verifying Auditor filed with the Copyright Office
under Secs. 201.28 and 201.30, and all information relating to a
manufacturing or importing party.
(3) DART Access Form means the form provided by the Copyright Office
that must be completed and signed by any appropriate party seeking
access to DART confidential material.
(4) DART confidential material means the Quarterly and Annual
Statements of Account, including the Primary Auditor's Report that is
part of the Annual Statements of Account, and the Verifying Auditor's
Report and any other verification information filed with the Copyright
Office. It also includes photocopies of notes made by requestors who
have had access to these materials that are retained by the Copyright
Office.
(5) Interested copyright party means a party as defined in 17 U.S.C.
1001(7).
(6) A Representative is someone, such as a lawyer or accountant, who
is not an employee or officer of an interested copyright party or a
manufacturing or importing party but is authorized to act on that
party's behalf.
(7) Statements of Account means Quarterly and Annual Statements of
Account as required under 17 U.S.C. 1003(c) and defined in Sec. 201.28.
(c) Confidentiality. The Copyright Office will keep all DART
confidential materials in locked files and disclose them only in
accordance with this section. Any person or entity provided with access
to DART confidential material by the Copyright Office shall receive such
information in confidence and shall use and disclose it only as
authorized in 17 U.S.C. 1001 et. seq.
(d) Persons allowed access to DART confidential material. Access to
DART Statements of Account filed under 17 U.S.C. 1003(c) and to
Verification Auditor's Reports or other verification information is
limited to:
(1) An interested copyright party as defined in Sec. 201.29(b)(5) or
an authorized representative of an interested copyright party, who has
been qualified for access pursuant to paragraph (f)(2) of this section;
(2) The Verifying Auditor authorized to conduct verification
procedures under Sec. 201.30;
(3) The manufacturing or importing party who filed that Statement of
Account or that party's authorized representative(s); and
(4) Staff of the Copyright Office or the Library of Congress who
require access in the performance of their duties under title 17 U.S.C.
1001 et seq.;
(e) Requests for access. An interested copyright party,
manufacturing party, importing party, representative, or Verifying
Auditor seeking access to any DART confidential material must complete
and sign a ``DART Access Form.'' The requestor must submit a copy of the
completed DART Access Form to the Licensing Specialist, Licensing
Division. The form must be received in the Licensing Division at least 5
working days before the date an appointment is requested. The form may
be faxed to the Licensing Division to expedite scheduling, but a copy of
the form with the original signature must be filed with the Office.
(1) A representative of an interested copyright party, a
manufacturing party or an importing party shall submit an affidavit of
his or her authority (e.g., in the form of a letter of authorization
from the interested copyright party or the manufacturing or importing
party).
[[Page 400]]
(2) An auditor selected to conduct a verification procedure under
Sec. 201.30 shall submit an affidavit of his or her selection to conduct
the verification procedure.
(3) DART Access Forms may be requested from, and upon completion
returned to: Licensing Division, Copyright Office, Library of Congress,
Washington, DC 20557-6400. They may also be requested or submitted in
person at the Licensing Division, Room LM-458, James Madison Memorial
Building, First and Independence Avenue, SE., Washington, DC, between
8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.
(f) Criteria for access to DART confidential material. (1) A
Verifying Auditor will be allowed access to any particular Statement of
Account and Primary Auditor's Report required to perform his or her
verification function;
(2) Interested copyright parties as defined in paragraph (b)(5) of
this section will be allowed access to any DART confidential material as
defined in paragraph (b)(4) of this section for verification purposes,
except that no interested copyright party owned or controlled by a
manufacturing or importing party subject to royalty payment obligations
under the Audio Home Recording Act, or who owns or controls such a
manufacturing or importing party, may have access to DART confidential
material relating to any other manufacturing or importing party. In such
cases, a representative of the interested copyright party as defined in
paragraph (b)(6) of this section may have access for that party,
provided that these representatives do not disclose the confidential
information contained in the Statement of Account or Primary Auditor's
Report to his or her client.
(3) Access to a Verifying Auditor's Report and any other
verification material filed in the Office shall be limited to the
interested copyright party(s) requesting the verification procedure and
to the manufacturing or importing party whose Statement of Account was
the subject of the verification procedure.
(g) Denial of access. Any party who does not meet the criteria
described in Sec. 201.29(f) shall be denied access.
(h) Content of DART Access Form. The DART Access Form shall include
the following information:
(1) Identification of the Statement of Account and Primary Auditor's
Report, the Verification Auditor's Report and other verification
materials, or notes prepared by requestors who earlier accessed the same
items, to be accessed, by both the name (of the manufacturing party or
importing party) and the quarter(s) and year(s) to be accessed.
(2) The name of the interested copyright party, manufacturing party,
importing party, or verification auditor on whose behalf the request is
made, plus this party's complete address, including a street address
(not a post office box number), a telephone number, and a telefax
number, if any.
(3) If the request for access is by or for an interested copyright
party, a statement indicating whether the copyright party is owned or
controlled by a manufacturing or importing party subject to a royalty
payment obligation, or whether the interested copyright party owns or
controls a manufacturing or importing party subject to royalty payments.
(4) The name, address, and telephone number of the person making the
request for access and his/her relationship to the party on whose behalf
the request is made.
(5) The specific purpose for the request for access, for example,
access is requested in order to verify a Statement of Account; in order
to review the results of a verification audit; for the resolution of a
dispute arising from such an audit; or in order for a manufacturing or
importing party to review its own Statement of Account, Primary
Auditor's Report, Verification Auditor's Report, or related information.
(6) A statement that the information obtained from access to
Statements of Account, Primary Auditor's Report, Verification Auditor's
Report, and any other verification audit filings will be used only for a
purpose permitted under the Audio Home Recording Act (AHRA) and the DART
regulations.
[[Page 401]]
(7) The actual signature of the party or the representative of the
party requesting access certifying that the information will be held in
confidence and used only for the purpose specified by the Audio Home
Recording Act and these regulations.
[60 FR 25998, May 16, 1995, as amended at 63 FR 30635, June 5, 1998]