John Conyers: “Mr. Speaker, the Copyright Royalty Technical Corrections Act is just that. It is a major accomplishment of the…”

“Mr. Speaker, the Copyright Royalty Technical Corrections Act is just that. It is a major accomplishment of the Subcommittee on Courts and makes a number of technical corrections. Two substantive improvements I would bring to the floor's attention at this point: It clarifies the decisions of the new copyright tribunal will serve as precedent for later decisions, establishes consistency for written statements to the tribunal, and provides for fee waivers for those claiming royalties in excess of $1,000. The other major substantive change resolves the ambiguity about when partial payments or distributions of royalties to content owners are allowed. This measure before us would permit Copyright Royalty Judges, upon the motion of a claimant and after publication of a request for responses, to make a partial distribution of cable and satellite royalty fees at any time after the filing of claims for distribution if no eligible claimant has stated a reasonable objection. I think the committee is in accord with this bill. I urge that Members of the House support this legislation.”