Finally, though online access will be the primary means for providing this information to the public, upon request the Copyright Office staff will search the records at the rate of $20 for each hour or fraction thereof and furnish a written report.  Search requests should be sent to the Reference and Bibliography Section, Copyright Office, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20559-6000.  In addition, individuals may come to the Office and do their own search free of charge.

6.  Filing Fee

Ms. Lorente stated that restoration of copyright should be automatic, and without a fee, comment 5, at 3, and Ms. Shaughnessy asked that only one fee be charged for all the works of an author.  Comment 3.

The Office notes that all of the works involved have been considered in the public domain in the United States.  The URAA provides that restoration of eligible works is automatic, and a NIE may be filed directly on a reliance party.  However, a notice which is effective against all reliance parties may be filed with the Copyright Office.  The Office must examine and record that notice, issue an acknowledgement, create a catalog entry that includes among other things all the titles, publish the information in the Federal Register, and maintain the online catalog of the information.  The URAA gives the Office authority to fix reasonable fees based on these costs.

The Office realizes that requiring a filing on each work of an author will be onerous and we will permit multiple works meeting the criteria described in our regulations to be filed on one notice for a lesser fee.

7.  Acknowledgement

Ms. Lorente, Mr. Pierce and Ms. Theg all asserted that it is essential that the Copyright Office confirm the filing of a NIE.  Ms. Lorente stated that it is very important that an author or agent have a document providing that he or she has complied with the URAA’s provisions.  See comment 5, at 2; comment 6, at 1; and comment 9, at 3.  Ms. McAleer stressed that the acknowledgement of the recording of a NIE is an essential service because of the possibility that the NIE may be misplaced, causing its publication in the Federal Register to be delayed.  Comment 4.

The Office will mail an acknowledgement of recordation to the filer of a NIE, including the date of receipt, the volume and page on which the NIE is recorded, and the anticipated date of publication in the Federal Register.  The Office will not issue a certificate of recordation.  Completed recordations will appear in the COPICS database and the Federal Register.

8.  Transfers

Mr. Pierce asked that the Office require NIE filers, other than the author, to reference documents of transfer by date, parties and rights transferred, if any.  He stated that this would decrease fraud and be less burdensome than filing the agreements with the Documents Unit of the Copyright Office.  Comment 6, at 2.

While the Copyright Office agrees that such a requirement might be useful, it cannot adopt this requirement since it is not authorized by the URAA.