The Copyright Office website "is currently unavailable, due to technical problems," the CO said Thursday afternoon, and at that time we couldn't access its website or some pages associated with the parent Library of Congress. Clicking on some URLs associated with CO and LOC returned this error message on our browser: "The requested URL / was not found on this server. Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request." The LOC didn't comment further.

With the FCC order set to take effect March 5 authorizing voluntary deployment of ATSC 3.0 (see 1802010025), MPEG LA is encountering “a great deal of enthusiasm for an ATSC 3.0 pool license,” said spokesman Tom O’Reilly. Having announced in August a call for patents essential to the 3.0 suite of standards (see 1711010054), “to facilitate creation of a joint license for ATSC 3.0,” MPEG LA held two meetings on forming a patent pool “and will hold our third meeting next month,” said O’Reilly. “Fifteen companies are participating so far.” He gave no timeline for when a 3.0 patent pool might be operational. MPEG LA runs 15 patent pool programs, including one for nine licensors for some essential patents embedded in ATSC 1.0. The two largest joint-license programs MPEG LA administers in terms of the number of participating licensors are those it runs on behalf of 38 companies in the AVC/H.264 pool and 36 companies in the HEVC/H.265 pool. The FCC 3.0 order released Nov. 21 said the commission will use the first five years of 3.0 deployment to "monitor" how the marketplace handles royalties for essential patents, electing for now not to impose licensing rules on 3.0's rollout (see 1711210004).

The Patent and Trademark Office granted the UHD Alliance’s petition to “revive” the group's application to register the Mobile HDR Premium logo as a certification mark for qualifying smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices, said the agency in a Wednesday notice. PTO declared the application dead in late December after an agency examiner rejected it for several flaws in May and the alliance failed to respond to the rejection by the six-month deadline (see 1801140001). The alliance “has firsthand knowledge that the failure to respond to the Office Action by the specified deadline was unintentional,” said the group's Tuesday petition. Despite PTO’s abandonment of the application, alliance President Mike Fidler said his group has “absolutely no intention” of ditching the Mobile HDR Premium logo (see 1801180031). Mobile World Congress (MWC) opens Feb. 26 in Barcelona, where Fidler told us Thursday the alliance plans to promote the logo, having unveiled it officially for the first time at last year’s MWC (see 1702280045).

Calling 2017 a year of "challenges" after integration of DTS and Tessera, Xperi CEO Jon Kirchner on its fiscal Q1 call Tuesday projected North American HD Radio new car design wins to reach 65 percent penetration by 2022 on deployment in lower-end models, up from 50 percent last year. Globally, Xperi hopes to establish connected radio as a “must have” offering for OEMs. Mobile market trends include 3D face recognition, multi-camera, multi-modal biometric security features, said the top executive. He also cited Xperi’s recently announced partnership with Huawei and Imax for augmented and virtual reality experiences in China. The company is moving its focus beyond IP, where it settled litigation with Broadcom via a multiyear license, and has five trial dates with Samsung 2018-19, Kirchner said.

Led by eight music organizations, 213 artists back passage of the Compensating Legacy Artists for their Songs, Service and Important Contributions to Society (Classics) Act, which would ensure royalty payments to artists when music recorded before Feb. 15, 1972, is played on digital radio. The coalition argued Tuesday the bill would close one of “copyright law’s most glaring loopholes” (see 1802080046). An advertisement has the artists saying digital radio earns billions of dollars a year on the older music, but the artists and copyright owners take home nothing due to ambiguity in state and federal copyright law. Among those signing were A2IM, the American Federation of Musicians, Content Creators Coalition, musicFIRST Coalition, Recording Academy, RIAA, Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and SoundExchange.

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals' BMG v. Cox is of limited relevance to issues before U.S. District Court in Austin and doesn't support a variety of music labels in their opposition to Grande Communications' pending motions to dismiss, Grande said in a docket 17-cv-365 response (in Pacer) last week, replying to the labels' filing of supplemental authority pointing to the decision (see 1802080001). The cable operator said Cox doesn't address a "fatal" deficiency in the plaintiffs' claims -- the failure to allege facts showing specific instances of underlying direct copyright infringement by any Grande subscribers. Grande said even under the "willful blindness" intent standard allowed in Cox, labels didn't state a claim for contributory infringement and don't show a willful blindness to any actual instance of infringement.

The Songwriters Guild of America endorsed the Music Modernization Act (HR-4706/S-2334) Friday, saying lawmakers agreed to modify provisions to address the group's previous objections. Backers frame it as a compromise supported by songwriters, music publishers and digital streaming services to revamp elements of Copyright Act sections 114 and 115. It would affect some rules on U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York handling of cases involving DOJ consent decrees on the ASCAP and BMI performance rights organizations. House IP Subcommittee Vice Chairman Doug Collins, R-Ga., and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., filed HR-4706 in December (see 1712210046). Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, filed S-2334 in January (see 1801240049). SGA initially opposed HR-4706/S-2334 because it worried provisions in the bill inadequately benefited songwriters, including language that would create the Mechanical Licensing Collective. Digital services voluntarily agreed to fund the MLC as a self-governing body using a free-market standard for determining digital music royalty rates (see 1712290025). Agreed-upon amendments include doubling the number of songwriters and composers represented on the MLC's board and shifting the balance on a proposed Unclaimed Royalties Oversight Committee so half its members come from the music creator community and half from music publishers, SGA said. Lawmakers also agreed to modify language on payments to songwriters from music publishers' “unclaimed” funds under negotiated publishing agreements, SGA said. Music publishers agreed to join SGA in supporting the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement (Case) Act (HR-3945), which would establish the Copyright Claims Board, a voluntary alternative forum to U.S. District courts, for copyright owners to protect their work from infringement. The board would be housed in Copyright Office, with jurisdiction limited to civil copyright cases capped at $30,000 in damages (see 1710040058). HR4706/S-2334 is now “deserving of our support,” said SGA President Rick Carnes. “The bill as it now stands would -- on balance -- benefit those creators we are sworn to protect significantly more than no bill at all.” NAB, which also initially opposed HR4706/S-2334, signed on as a supporter in January after lawmakers modified the bill to assuage its concerns (see 1801260049).

The U.S. retained the top ranking in the 2018 edition of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Global Innovation Policy Center's annual global IP index (see 1702080038). It beat the U.K. by .01 points amid improving what the Chamber views as conditions on copyright and trademarks issues and a worsening situation on patents. The climate in the U.S. for patents is creating “considerable uncertainty for innovators,” the Chamber said. The U.S. dropped to a tie with Italy for No. 12 on patents, down from No. 10. “The majority of countries took steps to strengthen their IP systems and foster an environment that encourages and incentivizes creators to bring their ideas to market,” said GIPC President David Hirschmann. “While a clear pack of leaders in IP protection top the rankings, the leadership gap has narrowed in a new global race to the top.” The U.S. ranking “is the latest evidence that harmful congressional actions and court decisions have dangerously weakened the U.S. patent system, the central foundation of our innovation economy,” said Innovation Alliance Executive Director Brian Pomper. “The U.S. has dropped in its ranking primarily due the excessive cost and uncertainty for U.S. innovators created by the America Invents Act’s inter partes review process, as well as recent Supreme Court decisions that have created confusion over what can and cannot be patented.”

Comments are due March 8 on proposed Copyright Office rules amendments to clarify the eligibility requirements for its single application online registration option, said a notice in Tuesday's Federal Register. It said the proposed change also would eliminate the short form version of its paper applications and allow for paper applications to be certified with a typed or printed signature, removing the requirement of a handwritten signature.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and industry groups lauded 94-0 Senate confirmation of Andrei Iancu as Patent and Trademark Office director (see 1802050062), in Monday statements. Iancu “is incredibly accomplished in the field of intellectual property law and has been a strong advocate for an effective U.S. patent system throughout his career,” Goodlatte said. “With Iancu at the helm, we hope that America's innovators will benefit from an IP system that incentivizes invention, protects property, and curbs damaging abuse of patent litigation,” said CTA CEO Gary Shapiro. Iancu “has a well-deserved reputation as a thought leader on intellectual property issues,” said Internet Association Senior Vice President-Global Government Affairs Melika Carroll. BSA|The Software Alliance and the American Intellectual Property Law Association also praised Iancu's confirmation.