This page has been validated.
18
- (2) Failure to file the application, to affix the certificate, or to pay the royalty required by clause (1) of this subsection renders the public performance actionable as an act of infringement under section 501 and fully subject to the remedies provided by sections 502 through 506.
(c) Distribution of Royalties.—
- (1) The Register of Copyrights shall receive all fees deposited under this section and, after deducting the reasonable costs incurred by the Copyright Office under this section, shall deposit the balance in the Treasury of the United States in such manner as the Secretary of the Treasury directs, for later distribution by the Copyright Royalty Commission as provided by this title. The Register shall submit to the Copyright Royalty Commission, on an annual basis, a detailed statement of account covering all fees received for the relevant period provided by subsection (b).
- (2) During the month of January in each year, every person claiming to be entitled to compulsory license fes under this section for performances during the preceding twelve-month period shall file a claim with the Copyright Royalty Commission, in accordance with requirements that the Commission shall prescribe by regulation. Such claim shall include an agreement to accept as final, except as provided in section 809 of this title, the determination of the Copyright Royalty Commission in any controversy concerning the distribution of royalty fees deposited under subclause (A) of subsection (b) (1) of this section to which the claimant is a party. Notwithstanding any provisions of the antitrust laws (within the meaning of section 12 of title 15), for purposes of this subsection any claimants may agree among themselves as to the proportionate division of compulsory licensing fees among them, may lump their claims together and tile them jointly or as a single claim, or may designate a common agent to receive payment on their behalf.
- (3) After the first day of October of each year, the Copyright Royalty Commission shall determine whether there exists a controversy concerning the distribution of royalty fees deposited under subclause (A) of subsection (b)(1). If the Commission determines that no such controversy exists, it shall, after deducting its reasonable administrative costs under this section, distribute such fees to the copyright owners entitled, or to their designated agents. If it finds that such a controversy exists, it shall, pursuant to chapter 8 of his title, conduct a proceeding to determine the distribution of royalty fees.
- (4) The fees to be distributed shall be divided as follows:
- (A) To every copyright owner not affiliated with a performing rights society, the pro rata share of the fees to be distributed to which such copyright owner proves entitlement.
- (B) To the performing rights societies, the remainder of the fees to be distributed in such pro rata shares as they shall by agreement stipulate among themselves, or, if they fail to agree, the pro rata share to which such performing rights societies prove entitlement.
- (C) During the pendency of any proceeding under this section, the Copyright Royalty Commission shall withhold from distribution an amount sufficient to satisfy all claims with respect to which a controversy exists, but shall have discretion to proceed to distribute any amounts that are not in controversy.
- (5) The Copyright Royalty Commission shall promulgate regulations under which persons who can reasonably be expected to have claims may, during the year in which performances take place, without expense to or harassment of operators or proprietors of establishments in which phonorecord players are located, have such access to such establishments and to the phonorecord players located therein and such opportunity to obtain information with respect thereto as may be reasonably necessary to determine, by sampling procedures or otherwise, the proportion of contribution of the musical works of each such person to the earnings of the phonorecord players for which fees shall have been deposited. Any person who alleges that he or she has been denied the access permitted under the regulations prescribed by the Copyright Royalty Commission may bring an action in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia for the cancellation of the compulsory license of the phonorecord player to which such access has been denied, and the court shall have the power to declare the compulsory license thereof invalid from the date of issue thereof.
(d) Criminal Penalties.—Any person who knowingly makes a false representation of a material fact in an application filed under clause (1)(A) of subsection (b), or who knowingly alters a certificate issued under clause (1)(B)
