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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 157 / Wednesday, August 18, 2021 / Rules and Regulations that additional written comments are necessary at this time.26 The Office therefore is publishing the rule as final.
As with other CCB regulations, the Office will carefully monitor the operation of these procedures and welcomes CCB participants feedback as to whether further adjustments should be considered in the future.
II. Final Rule A. Small Claims Expedited Registration The NPRM outlined several regulatory requirements to govern the expedited registration process. Commenters were generally supportive of the regulations proposed framework and substance.
Recommended amendments to the proposed rule were limited to the matters discussed below.

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1. Requesting Small Claims Expedited Registration Under the CASE Act, a claim or counterclaim may be asserted before the CCB where the legal or beneficial owner of the copyright has first delivered a completed application, a deposit, and the required fee for registration of the copyright to the Copyright Office, and a registration certificate has either been issued or has not been refused. 27 The small claims expedited registration provision is designed to reduce the time required for examination of a partys application and, in doing so, streamline claim resolution before the CCB. The NPRM
provided that small claims expedited registration may be requested only after a claimant or counterclaimant has submitted a completed registration application and the respondent has either opted in or has not timely opted out of the CCB proceeding. This requirement aimed to ensure that registration applicants do not invoke the CCB to receive special handling treatment at a discounted rate when not genuinely intending to pursue their claim through the CCB. 28
The Copyright Alliance et al. objected to the inclusion of the phrase opting in, noting that the statute does not contain that language and that it therefore could cause confusion.29 To address that concern, the final rule amends the proposed rule, providing 26 Interim final rules are a common practice among federal agencies, often adopted when there is a need to promulgate a rule before comments can be received, considered, and addressed. See 5
U.S.C. 553b3B good-cause exception to noticeand-comment requirements under Administrative Procedure Act.
27 17 U.S.C. 1505a.
28 86 FR at 2199293.
29 Copyright Alliance et al. NPRM Comments at 7.

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that a claimant or counterclaimant may request small claims expedited registration only after it has submitted a completed registration application and the proceeding has become active. The revision reflects that there are several ways for a proceeding to become active, including when a respondent fails to timely opt out or the case is referred from a district court with consent of the parties.30
2. Abeyance The proposed rule reflected the statutory requirement that if the proceeding cannot move forward because a registration certificate for the work is still pending, the CCB will hold the proceedings in abeyance until a decision is made on the application.31 It also provided that if the proceeding has been held in abeyance for more than one year, the Copyright Claims Board may dismiss the claim or counterclaim without prejudice after providing thirty days written notice. 32 The Copyright Alliance et al. asked the Office to clarify to whom written notice will be provided. 33 The final rule clarifies that the CCB will provide notice of the dismissal to all parties to the proceeding.
3. Fees The NPRM provided that a fee would be required to seek small claims expedited registration.34 In response, two commenters raised questions as to how the Office would handle small claims expedited registration requests for works included in a group registration application and whether the fee in such cases would be higher than for works not included in a group application.35 To clarify, small claims expedited registration relates to examination of the registration application as a whole, and not to examination of the specific work or works at issue before the CCB. Because the expedited registration fee is paid per registration application, small claims expedited registration for a group application will incur the same fee as is applicable to a single-work application.
Thus, there is no need to revise the 30 See 17 U.S.C. 1506i, 1509b. The Office also removed the word both from before completed an application because only one action completing the registration applicationis taken by the claimant or counterclaimant. This change does not alter the substance of the rule.
31 Id. at 1505b2.
32 86 FR at 21993.
33 Copyright Alliance et al. NPRM Comments at 10.
34 86 FR at 2199294.
35 See Copyright Alliance et al. NPRM Comments at 8; SFWA NPRM Comments at 23.

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proposed rule to provide unique fees and procedures for group registrations.
To keep the CCB accessible while helping to offset some of the anticipated cost increases related to small claims expedited registration, the Office has determined that a $50 fee is reasonable.
Verizon argued that a $50 fee would be too low and would incentivize claimants, large or small, to pay only $50 and file some claim at the CCB in order to gain access to a quick registration, a CCB decision, and possible statutory damages. 36 The Office, however, believes it is important to keep fees low wherever possible to advance the statutory goal of providing a cost-effective alternative to federal court. While the Office appreciates the concerns over potential abuses, it should be noted that the statute specifically includes provisions to deter abusive behavior and empowers the Office to promulgate various regulations to safeguard the CCB, parties, and the public from such practices.37 The Office believes that such concerns are more properly addressed through the regulatory process than through its feesetting authority. The final rule thus does not revise the proposed fee and establishes that applicants seeking small claims expedited registration will pay a $50 fee for each request. This fee is in addition to the relevant copyright registration application fee. In line with its overall approach to fee-setting, the Office intends to periodically reassess the reasonableness of the small claims expedited registration fee once additional data about the operation of this service becomes available.
4. Methods of Payment Separately, the Copyright Alliance et al. proposed expanding the permitted methods of payment available for small claims expedited registration. The proposed rule specified that the fee for small claims expedited registration must be submitted electronically to the Copyright Claims Board and not through the Copyright Offices electronic registration system, and shall be paid, in accordance with Office instructions posted online, by credit or debit cards, or directly from parties bank accounts by means of automated clearing house ACH debit transactions. 38 The Copyright Alliance et al. recommended providing greater flexibility by allowing payment using prepaid cards and other widely accepted online payment options, like PayPal, Zelle, Venmo, and 36 Verizon
NPRM Comments at 2.
17 U.S.C. 1504g, 1506y, z; 86 FR at 1616465.
38 86 FR at 21994.
37 See
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