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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 233 / Wednesday, December 8, 2021 / Proposed Rules Board for a period of 12 months beginning on the date on which the Board makes such a finding;
2 In the case of bad-faith conduct by a party, dismissal without prejudice of any proceeding commenced by that party or by the representative on behalf of a party that is still pending before the Board at the time the finding is made, except that active proceedings shall be dismissed only if the respondent provides written consent to the dismissal; and 3 In the case of a representative, a provision that the representative be barred from representing any party before the Board for a period of 12
months beginning on the date on which the Board makes such a finding. In deciding whether the representative shall be barred from representing other parties in already pending proceedings, the Board may take into account the hardship to the parties represented by the sanctioned representative. If a representative is barred from further representing a party in a pending claim, the Board will consider requests from that party asking the Board to amend the scheduling order or issue a stay of the pending action to allow that party to find other representation. Whether to issue amend the scheduling order or issue a stay shall be at the Boards discretion.

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232.5 Attorney and representative conduct.

a Notices of appearance. If a party elects to be represented by an attorney or other representative in a proceeding, such attorney or representative must file a notice of appearance that provides the name of the case, the representatives bar number in a State in which the representative has been admitted to practice if applicable, the case number if assigned, the person on whose behalf the appearance is made, and the representatives mailing address, email address, and telephone number. Similar notice must also be given for any withdrawal of appearance.
b Bar admissions. An attorney must be a member in good standing of the bar of the highest court of a State, the District of Columbia, or any territory or commonwealth of the United States. A
law student representative must qualify under regulations governing law student representation of a party to be proposed at 37 CFR part 234. An attorney or representative must file with the Board a written statement under
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penalty of perjury that the attorney or representative is currently qualified and is authorized to represent the party on whose behalf the attorney or representative appears.
c Disbarred attorneys. Any attorney or representative who has been disbarred by any Federal court, a court of any State, the District of Columbia, or any territory or commonwealth of the United States shall not be allowed to represent a party before the Board. If an attorney in any proceeding active or pending before the Board is disbarred after a notice of appearance has been made, the attorney must report the disbarment to the Board and withdraw representation from any proceeding.
d Duties toward the Board and the parties. An attorney or representative has a duty of candor and impartiality toward the Board, and a duty of fairness toward opposing parties and counsel. In assessing whether an attorney or representative has breached its duties, the Board shall consider the rules of professional conduct of the District of Columbia and the State in which the attorney practices.
e Penalties for violation. Any attorney or representative found to be in violation of any of the rules of conduct as set forth in this section, or who is otherwise found to be behaving unethically or inappropriately before the Board, may be barred from representing parties in proceedings before the Board for a period of twelve months.
15. Part 233 is added to read as follows:
PART 233LIMITATION ON CASES
Sec.
233.1
233.2
233.3

General.
Limitation on proceedings.
Temporary limitations.

Authority: 17 U.S.C. 702, 1510.
233.1

General.

This part prescribes rules pertaining to the management of the Copyright Claims Boards Boards docket and prevention of abuse of the Boards proceedings.
233.2

Limitation on proceedings.

a Maximum number of proceedings filed by a party. A party, including a corporate partys parents, subsidiaries, and affiliates, shall file no more than 10
Copyright Claims Board proceedings in any 12-month period. A private attorney or law firm shall represent a claimant in
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no more than 40 Copyright Claims Board proceedings in any 12-month period. A proceeding shall count toward this limitation as soon as it is filed, regardless of how the proceeding is resolved, whether it is found to be noncompliant or unsuitable, voluntarily dismissed, or fails to become active due to a respondents opt-out. Amendments to a claim and counterclaims filed in response to a claim shall not count toward this limit.
b Circumvention of limit. It shall be considered bad-faith conduct under 37
CFR 232.3 for a party to take any action for the sole purpose of avoiding the limitation on the number of proceedings that may be filed as set forth in this section.
c Maximum total number of proceedings before the Board. There shall not be a maximum total number of proceedings that may be filed before the Board.
233.3

Temporary limitations.

a Moratorium on new claims. When the Board has determined that the number of pending cases before it has overwhelmed the capacity of the Board, the Board may impose a temporary stay on the filing of claims or on the number of claims that may be filed by a party or representative. The Board shall publish an announcement of that determination on its website, stating the effective date of the stay, and the duration of the stay, not to exceed six months.
b Exception to moratorium. If a claimants statute of limitations under 17 U.S.C. 1504b is about to expire during the stay under paragraph a of this section, the claimant may file a claim on or before the statutory deadline accompanied by a declaration under penalty of perjury stating that the statute of limitations will expire during the stay and setting forth facts in support of that conclusion. If the Board determines that the statute of limitations likely will expire during the stay based on the facts set forth in the declaration, the Board shall hold the claim in abeyance and conduct a compliance review following the end of the stay.
Dated: November 24, 2021.
Kevin R. Amer, Acting General Counsel and Associate Register of Copyrights.
FR Doc. 202126058 Filed 12721; 8:45 am BILLING CODE 141030P

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