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retained under Copyright Office control “for the longest period considered practicable and desirable” by the Register and the Librarian. When and if they ultimately decide that retention of certain deposited articles is no longer “practicable and desirable,” the Register and Librarian have joint discretion to order their “destruction or other disposition.” Because of the unique value and irreplaceable nature of unpublished deposits, the subsection requires their preservation throughout their own term of copyright.
Subsection (d) of section 704 establishes a new procedure under which a copyright owner can request retention of deposited material for the full term of copyright. The Register of Copyrights is authorized to issue regulations prescribing the fees for this serivce and the “conditions under which such requests are to be made and granted.”
Catalog of copyright entries
Section 707 of the bill retains the present statute’s basic requirement that the Register compile and publish catalogs of all copyright registrations at periodic intervals, but gives him “discretion to determine, on the basis of practicability and usefulness, the form and frequency of publication of each particiular part.” This provision will in no way diminish the utility or value of the present catalogs, and the flexibility of approach, coupled with use of the new mechanical and electronic devices now becoming available, will avoid waste and result in a better product.
Copyright Office fees
The schedule of fees set out in section 708 reflects a general increase in the fees of the Copyright Office from those established by the Congress in 1965. The basic fees are $10 for registration, $6 for renewal registration, $10 for recordation of documents, and $10 per hour for searching. The section also contains new fee provisions needed because of new requirements or services established under the bill, and subsection (a)(11) authorizes the Register to fix additional fees, on the “basis of the cost of providing the service,” for any other special services requiring a substantial amount of time or expense.” Subsection (b) makes clear that, unless he chooses to waive them in “occasional or isolated cases involving relatively small amounts,” the Register is to charge fees for services he renders to other Government agencies.
Postal interruptions
Section 709 authorizes the Register of Copyrights to issue regulations to permit the acceptance by the Copyright Office of documents which are delivered after the close of the prescribed period if the delay was caused by a general disruption or suspension of postal or other transportation or communications services.
Reproductions for the blind and handicapped
Section 710 directs the Register of Copyrights to establish by regulation forms and procedures by which the copyright owners of certain categories of works may voluntarily grant to the Library of Congress a license to reproduce and distribute copies or phonorecords of the work solely for the use of the blind and physically handicapped.
