CFR

251.33—Ex parte communications.

(a) Communications with Librarian or Register. No person outside the Library of Congress shall engage in ex parte communication with the Librarian of Congress or the Register of Copyrights on the merit or status of any matter, procedural or substantive, relating to the distribution of royalty fees, the adjustment of royalty rates or the status of digital audio recording devices, at any time whatsoever. This prohibition shall not apply to statements concerning public policies related to royalty fee distribution and rate adjustment so long as they are unrelated to the merits of any particular proceeding.

(b) Selected arbitrators. No interested person shall engage in, or cause someone else to engage in, ex parte communications with the selected arbitrators in a proceeding for any reason whatsoever from the time of their selection to the time of the submission of their report to the Librarian, and, in the case of a remand, from the time of their reconvening to the time of their submission of their report to the Librarian. Incidental communications unrelated to any proceeding, such as an exchange of pleasantries, shall not be deemed to constitute an ex parte communication.

(c) Listed arbitrators. No interested person shall engage in, or cause someone else to engage in, ex parte communications with any person listed by the Librarian of Congress as qualified to serve as an arbitrator about the merits of any past, pending, or future proceeding relating to the distribution of royalty fees or the adjustment of royalty rates. This prohibition applies during any period when the individual appears on a current arbitrator list.

(d) Library and Copyright Office personnel. No person outside the Library of Congress (including the Copyright Office staff) shall engage in ex parte communications with any employee of the Library of Congress about the substantive merits of any past, pending, or future proceeding relating to the distribution of royalty fees or the adjustment of royalty rates. This prohibition does not apply to procedural inquiries such as scheduling, filing requirements, status requests, or requests for public information.

(e) Outside contacts. The Librarian of Congress, the Register of Copyrights, the selected arbitrators, the listed arbitrators, and the employees of the Library of Congress described in paragraphs (a) through (d) of this section, shall not initiate or continue the prohibited communications that apply to them.

(f) Responsibilities of recipients of communication. (1) Whoever receives a prohibited communication shall immediately end it and place on the public record of the applicable proceeding:

(i) All such written or recorded communications;

(ii) Memoranda stating the substance of all such oral communications; and

(iii) All written responses, and memoranda stating the substance of all oral responses, to the materials described in paragraphs (f)(1) (i) and (ii) of this section.

(2) The materials described in this paragraph (f) shall not be considered part of the record for the purposes of decision unless introduced into evidence by one of the parties.

(g) Action by Librarian. When notice of a prohibited communication described in paragraphs (a) through (d) of this section has been placed in the record of a proceeding, either the Librarian of Congress or the CARP may require the party causing the prohibited communication to show cause why his or her claim or interest in the proceeding should not be dismissed, denied, or otherwise adversely affected.

Code of Federal Regulations

[59 FR 23981, May 9, 1994, as amended at 59 FR 63040, 63041, Dec. 7, 1994; 60 FR 8197, Feb. 13, 1995]

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