On June 8, 2012, the Copyright Office proposed a new regulation to implement provisions in the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act of 2010 (STELA). The regulation permits copyright owners to audit certain statements of account (SOAs) filed with the Copyright Office. Cable operators and satellite carriers pay royalties to, and file SOAs with, the Copyright Office every six months under statutory licenses that allow for the retransmission of TV programming transmitted by over-the-air broadcast signals. Until STELA became law, the licenses never authorized copyright owners, as beneficiaries of the royalties collected, to audit SOA information and amounts paid. Comments are due August 13, 2012. Reply comments are due September 12, 2012.

Comments may be submitted by
www.copyright.gov/docs/soaaudit/.

For more information, see:
http://www.copyright.gov/fedreg/2012/77fr35643.pdf