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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 32 / Friday, February 19, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
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Offices records and may be made available to the public under appropriate circumstances. If the works contain sufficient creative authorship, a registration certificate will be mailed to the applicant within a few weeks of approval. Because of the national emergency, in-person examinations have been suspended since March 2020.
The comments received in response to the May 2020 Interim Rule suggested various security protocols and other procedures for the Office to consider in implementing remote examination. The National College Testing Association NCTA supported examination by videoconference and suggested various software protocols that the Office could consider to maintain security, such as confirming compliance with National Institute of Standards and Technology NIST Federal Information Processing Standards, employment of appropriate encryption techniques, and enhanced training of Office examiners in the use of secure virtual meeting technologies.28 The Association of Test Publishers ATP echoed these suggestions and also suggested that the Office employ dual screen control and dual scrolling software.29 The Association of American Medical Colleges AAMC endorsed the use of WebEx, and suggested that for security reasons, the applicant should be the host of any teleconference.30
After reviewing these comments, the Literary Division of the Registration Program solicited responses from frequent submitters of secure test applications to determine their willingness and ability to participate in a test run of a remote examination.
The National Board of Medical Examiners NBME expressed interest in participating. NBME proposed that the test run be conducted using a fabricated deposit copy created specifically for use in the test run; the remote examination would be performed through the WebEx platform, 28 NCTA Comments at 78. NCTA also stated that the Office should permanently adopt the principal alterations in the 2020 Interim Ruleparticularly allowing remote testing, remote proctoring, and electronic storage of tests. Id. at 36.
29 ATP Comments at 911. ATP also suggested that the Office create a document that contains the material being registered that was returned to the applicant, in essence, generating the unredacted deposit. Id. The interim rule retains that responsibility with the applicant. ATP also stated that the Office should adopt many of the interim rule changes permanently, principally remote testing and proctoring, and secure electronic storage. Id. at 49.
30 AAMC Comments at 12.

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since it is currently supported by the Library.31
The test run examination took place on June 12, 2020. NBME set up the 30minute appointment through WebEx and provided the link to the examiner.
NBME shared its computer screen with the examiner through WebEx and displayed redacted and unredacted deposit copies side-by-side, as would occur at an in-person examination.
NBME used the dual-scrolling software Setup Scrolling, which allows for the viewing of two PDF documents side-byside and scrolling through both documents at the same time, while keeping the pages from each document aligned. This feature permits the examiner to easily compare the two PDF
documents. NBME gave the examiner control of its computer in order to scroll through and examine the deposit material, much in the same manner and at the same speed as in an in-person examination.
Overall, the remote examination proceeded smoothly. NBME, however, raised several logistical issues, including questions regarding the submission of the signed declaration and the date-stamping of the unredacted deposit. The Office has developed proposed solutions to these issues, addressed below. Given the success of the test run, the Office now is prepared to move forward with the examination of secure test applications through secure videoconference for the duration of the national emergency.
B. The Remote Examination Procedure Under This Interim Rule Based on this input, the Office is now adopting a procedure for examining secure tests that is generally the same as outlined in the current regulation, except as described below.32
Participation in the process set forth in todays Interim Rule is strictly voluntary. Applicants may opt for an inperson examination, recognizing that such examinations cannot occur until the national emergency ends and the Office resumes normal operations.
Applicants are still required to submit the application, filing fee, questionnaire, and redacted copy of the works through the electronic registration system. As before, the examiner will review these materials to determine if the works qualifies as a secure test or 31 See 85 FR at 27298. No registrations were issued as a result of this test run; it was conducted solely to determine the feasibility of the process.
32 Todays interim rule provides an overview of how remote examination will work; more detailed instructions can be found in the Offices circular on secure tests Circular 64, available at https
www.copyright.gov/circs/.

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a group of secure test items. If any issues arise during this review, the examiner will communicate with the applicant to resolve such issues before scheduling a remote examination.
Once any issues regarding the submitted materials have been resolved, the examiner will work with the applicant to schedule the appointment for the remote examination. The applicant is responsible for setting up the appointment through the WebEx platform or other similar teleconferencing platforms that have been approved for use by the Library of Congress,33 and sending the videoconference information to the email address provided by the examiner.
The day before the scheduled appointment, the examiner will enable the Upload Deposit function in the electronic registration system to allow the applicant to upload the declaration form attesting that the redacted copy uploaded through the system and the redacted copy displayed at the remote examination are identical. The declaration must include a legally binding signature. The Office will accept an electronic signature as defined in 15 U.S.C. 7006, such as /s/ Jane Doe, a digital image of a handwritten signature on the form, or other verified electronic signature. By contrast, the applicant need not supply a completed copy of the online application; the examiner can retrieve a copy from the electronic registration system, if necessary.
On the day of the appointment, the examiner will log into the approved teleconferencing platform at the appropriate time using the information provided by the applicant. All participants must use a personal computer that has a camera and a microphone so that the applicant and examiner will be able to see and communicate with each other during the videoconference. During the examination, the applicant will pull up the redacted and unredacted copies side-by-side when instructed by the examiner. The applicant must have socalled dual-scrolling software that is compatible with the teleconferencing platform being used in order to participate in a remote examination allowed under todays interim rule. The applicant must remain available to answer any questions the examiner may have during the course of the examination.
33 In its circular on secure tests, the Office will provide a representative list of software programs that provide this functionality.

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