The Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel (CARP) system was a part of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

involved in making decisions regarding copyright royalties.

Panel function

The system itself was created upon the suggestion of the

Register of Copyrights The Register of Copyrights is the director of the United States Copyright Office within the Library of Congress, as provided by . The Office has been headed by a Register since 1897. The Register is appointed by, and responsible to, the Librarian ...

, and is sanctioned to appoint and organize

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...

arbitration Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) that resolves disputes outside the judiciary courts. The dispute will be decided by one or more persons (the 'arbitrators', 'arbiters' or 'arbitral tribunal'), which renders the ...

royalty panels. The primary purpose of the panel is to make decisions involving the adjustment of copyright

royalty rate A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...

s as well as the

term Term may refer to: * Terminology, or term, a noun or compound word used in a specific context, in particular: **Technical term, part of the specialized vocabulary of a particular field, specifically: ***Scientific terminology, terms used by scient ...

s and

payment A payment is the voluntary tender of money or its equivalent or of things of value by one party (such as a person or company) to another in exchange for goods, or services provided by them, or to fulfill a legal obligation. The party making the ...

s of royalties that fall under

copyright law A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...

. When determining the reasonable royalty rates, the Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel attempts to make the creative works accessible to the public, to grant the copyright holder a fair reward for the work, and to minimize any disruptive effects the industries involved or associated with the copyright holder and user. Additionally, arbitrary decisions are made concerning the adjustment of the copyright royalty rates by this group.

Distribution Reform Act of 2004

The CARP was phased out by the Copyright Royalty and Distribution Reform Act of 2004, which amended chapter 8 of the U.S. Copyright Act in its entirety. Pub. L. No. 108-419, 118 Stat. 2341. Under the new system, three Copyright Royalty Judges, also known as CRJs, establish the conditions and rates for (compulsory) copyright statutory licenses, and govern the distribution system of royalties collected by the Copyright office on these statutory licenses. 17 U.S.C. Section 801. The CRJ appointees will serve for a full-time six-year

with the possibility for reappointment. In order to avoid replacing all three judges at the same time, the first three judges appointed will serve staggered terms of two, four, and six years. 17 U.S.C. Section 802.

References

{{USCopyrightActs United States Copyright Office Copyright agencies Music licensing

Panel function

Distribution Reform Act of 2004

See also

References