What Are "Online-Only Works"? Newspaper Association of America Comments on Copyright Office's Proposed Mandatory Deposit of Published Electronic Works Rule

As reported earlier in LLB, the Copyright Office is proposing to amend its regulations governing mandatory deposit of electronic works published in the United States and available only online. The amendments would establish that such works are exempt from mandatory deposit until a demand for deposit of copies or phonorecords of such works is issued by the Copyright Office. They would also set forth the process for issuing and responding to a demand for deposit, amend the definition of a ‘‘complete copy’’ of a work for purposes of mandatory deposit of online–only works, and establish new best edition criteria for electronic serials available only online.

Submitted comments are now online, including ALA-ARL's cursory comment that supports LC's proposed rule in an obligatory fashion. More interesting is the comment submitted by Newspaper Association of America  because NAA actually put some thought into its response. One snip:

The rule does not define "online-only works." It is not entirely clear whether or at what point, for example, a newspaper website that may be substantially different from the newspaper print edition would constitute an "online-only work" for mandatory deposit purposes, or for purposes of group registration practices such as group registration of serials or online-only newspapers.

See also the Association of American Publishers comments. The final date for receipt of reply comments has been extended to Friday, October 16th. [JH]