PART 380—RATES AND TERMS FOR TRANSMISSIONS BY ELIGIBLE NONSUBSCRIPTION SERVICES AND NEW SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES AND FOR THE MAKING OF EPHEMERAL REPRODUCTIONS TO FACILITATE THOSE TRANSMISSIONS Authority: 17 U.S.C. 112(e), 114(f), 804(b)(3). Source: 79 FR 23127, Apr. 25, 2014, unless otherwise noted. Subpart A—Regulations of General Application Source: 86 FR 59590, Oct. 27, 2021, unless otherwise noted. § 380.1 Scope and compliance. (a) Scope. (b) Limited application of terms and definitions. (c) Legal compliance. (d) Voluntary agreements. § 380.2 Making payment of royalty fees. (a) Payment to the Collective. (b) Monthly payments. (c) Minimum payments. (d) Late fees. (1) Waiver of late fees. (2) Notice regarding noncompliant Statements of Account. (e) Use of account numbers. § 380.3 Delivering statements of account. (a) Statements of Account. (1) Such information as is necessary to calculate the accompanying royalty payment; (2) The name, address, business title, telephone number, facsimile number (if any), electronic mail address (if any) and other contact information of the person to be contacted for information or questions concerning the content of the Statement of Account; (3) The account number assigned to the Licensee by the Collective for the relevant service offering (if the Licensee has been notified of such account number by the Collective); (4) The signature of: (i) The Licensee or a duly authorized agent of Licensee; (ii) A partner or delegate if the Licensee is a partnership; or (iii) An officer of the corporation if the Licensee is a corporation. (5) The printed or typewritten name of the person signing the Statement of Account; (6) If the Licensee is a partnership or corporation, the title or official position held in the partnership or corporation by the person signing the Statement of Account; (7) A certification of the capacity of the person signing; (8) The date of signature; and (9) An attestation to the following effect: I, the undersigned owner/officer/partner/agent of the Licensee have examined this Statement of Account and hereby state that it is true, accurate, and complete to my knowledge after reasonable due diligence and that it fairly presents, in all material respects, the liabilities of the Licensee pursuant to 17 U.S.C. 112(e) and 114 and applicable regulations adopted under those sections. (b) Certification. § 380.4 Distributing royalty fees. (a) Distribution of royalties. (2) The Collective must use its best efforts to identify and locate copyright owners and featured artists in order to distribute royalties payable to them under sec. 112(e) or 114(d)(2) of title 17, United States Code, or both. Such efforts must include, but not be limited to, searches in Copyright Office public records and published directories of sound recording copyright owners. (b) Unclaimed funds. (c) Retention of records. (d) Designation of the Collective. (2) If SoundExchange, Inc. should dissolve or cease to be governed by a board consisting of equal numbers of representatives of Copyright Owners and Performers, then it shall be replaced for the applicable royalty term by a successor Collective according to the following procedure: (i) The nine Copyright Owner representatives and the nine Performer representatives on the SoundExchange board as of the last day preceding SoundExchange's cessation or dissolution shall vote by a majority to recommend that the Copyright Royalty Judges designate a successor and must file a petition with the Copyright Royalty Judges requesting that the Judges designate the named successor and setting forth the reasons therefor. (ii) Within 30 days of receiving the petition, the Copyright Royalty Judges must issue an order designating the recommended Collective, unless the Judges find good cause not to make and publish the designation in the Federal Register § 380.5 Handling Confidential Information. (a) Definition. (b) Use of Confidential Information. (c) Disclosure of Confidential Information. (1) Those employees, agents, consultants, and independent contractors of the Collective, subject to an appropriate written confidentiality agreement, who are engaged in the collection and distribution of royalty payments hereunder and activities related directly thereto who require access to the Confidential Information for the purpose of performing their duties during the ordinary course of their work; (2) A Qualified Auditor or outside counsel who is authorized to act on behalf of: (i) The Collective with respect to verification of a Licensee's statement of account pursuant to this part; or (ii) A Copyright Owner or Performer with respect to the verification of royalty distributions pursuant to this part; (3) Copyright Owners and Performers, including their designated agents, whose works a Licensee used under the statutory licenses set forth in 17 U.S.C. 112(e) and 114 by the Licensee whose Confidential Information is being supplied, subject to an appropriate written confidentiality agreement, and including those employees, agents, consultants, and independent contractors of such Copyright Owners and Performers and their designated agents, subject to an appropriate written confidentiality agreement, who require access to the Confidential Information to perform their duties during the ordinary course of their work; (4) Attorneys and other authorized agents of parties to proceedings under 17 U.S.C. 8, 112, 114, acting under an appropriate protective order. (d) Safeguarding Confidential Information. § 380.6 Auditing payments and distributions. (a) General. (b) Frequency of auditing. (c) Notice of intent to audit. Federal Register (d) The audit. (e) Access to third-party records for audit purposes. (f) Duty of auditor to consult. (g) Audit results; underpayment or overpayment of royalties. (h) Paying the costs of the audit. i.e., (i) Retention of audit report. § 380.7 Definitions. For purposes of this part, the following definitions apply: Aggregate Tuning Hours (ATH) Collective Commercial Webcaster Copyright Owners Digital audio transmission Eligible nonsubscription transmission Eligible Transmission Ephemeral recording Licensee New subscription service Noncommercial Educational Webcaster Noncommercial Webcaster Nonsubscription transmission Payor (1) A Licensee, in relation to the Collective; and (2) The Collective in relation to a Copyright Owner or Performer. Performance e.g., (1) A performance of a sound recording that does not require a license ( e.g., (2) A performance of a sound recording for which the service has previously obtained a license from the Copyright Owner of such sound recording; and (3) An incidental performance that both: (i) Makes no more than incidental use of sound recordings including, but not limited to, brief musical transitions in and out of commercials or program segments, brief performances during news, talk and sports programming, brief background performances during disk jockey announcements, brief performances during commercials of sixty seconds or less in duration, or brief performances during sporting or other public events; and (ii) Does not contain an entire sound recording, other than ambient music that is background at a public event, and does not feature a particular sound recording of more than thirty seconds (as in the case of a sound recording used as a theme song). Performers Public broadcaster Qualified auditor Subscription transmission Transmission Subpart B—Commercial Webcasters and Noncommercial Webcasters Source: 86 FR 59593, Oct. 27, 2021, unless otherwise noted. § 380.10 Royalty fees for the public performance of sound recordings and the making of ephemeral recordings. (a) Royalty fees. (1) Commercial webcasters: (2) Noncommercial webcasters: (b) Minimum fee. (c) Annual royalty fee adjustment. y y y y Federal Register (d) Ephemeral recordings royalty fees; allocation between ephemeral recordings and performance royalty fees. [86 FR 59593, Oct. 27, 2021, as amended at 86 FR 68150, Dec. 1, 2021; 87 FR 73940, Dec. 2, 2022; 88 FR 83509, Nov. 30, 2023; 89 FR 96904, Dec. 6, 2024] Subpart C—Noncommercial Educational Webcasters Source: 91 FR 11469, Mar. 10, 2026, unless otherwise noted. § 380.20 Definitions. For purposes of this subpart, the following definitions apply, as well as those set forth in subpart A of this part: Educational Transmission Noncommercial Educational Webcaster (1) Has obtained a compulsory license under 17 U.S.C. 112(e) and 114 and the implementing regulations therefor to make Educational Transmissions and related Ephemeral Recordings; (2) Complies with all applicable provisions of Sections 112(e) and 114 and applicable regulations in this part; (3) Is directly operated by, or is affiliated with and officially sanctioned by, and the digital audio transmission operations of which are staffed substantially by students enrolled at, a domestically accredited primary or secondary school, college, university or other post-secondary degree-granting educational institution; (4) Is not a “public broadcasting entity” (as defined in 17 U.S.C. 118(f)) qualified to receive funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting pursuant to its criteria; and (5) Takes affirmative steps not to make total transmissions in excess of 160,000 Aggregate Tuning Hours (ATH) on any individual channel or station in any month, if in any previous calendar year it has made total transmissions in excess of 160,000 ATH on any individual channel or station in any month. § 380.21 Royalty fees for the public performance of sound recordings and for ephemeral recordings. (a) Minimum fee for eligible Noncommercial Educational Webcasters. e.g., e.g., e.g., (1) 2026: $800; (2) 2027: $850; (3) 2028: $900; (4) 2029: $950; and (5) 2030: $1,000. (b) Consequences of unexpectedly exceeding the ATH cap. (1) The Noncommercial Educational Webcaster shall, for such month and the remainder of the calendar year in which such month occurs, pay royalties in accordance, and otherwise comply, with the provisions of subpart B of this part applicable to Noncommercial Webcasters; (2) The Minimum Fee paid by the Noncommercial Educational Webcaster for such calendar year will be credited to the amounts payable under the provisions of subpart B of this part applicable to Noncommercial Webcasters; and (3) The Noncommercial Educational Webcaster shall, within 30 days after the end of each month, notify the Collective if it has made total transmissions in excess of 160,000 ATH on a channel or station during that month; pay the Collective any amounts due under the provisions of subpart B of this part applicable to Noncommercial Webcasters; and provide the Collective a statement of account pursuant to subpart A of this part. (c) Royalties for other Noncommercial Educational Webcasters. (d) Estimation of performances. (e) Allocation between ephemeral recordings and performance royalty fees. § 380.22 Terms for making payment of royalty fees and statements of account. (a) Payment to the Collective. (b) Minimum fee. (c) Statements of account. (1) The name of the Noncommercial Educational Webcaster, exactly as it appears on the notice of use, and if the statement of account covers a single station only, the call letters or name of the station; (2) The name, address, business title, telephone number, facsimile number (if any), electronic mail address (if any) and other contact information of the person to be contacted for information or questions concerning the content of the statement of account; (3) The signature of a duly authorized representative of the applicable educational institution; (4) The printed or typewritten name of the person signing the statement of account; (5) The date of signature; (6) The title or official position held by the person signing the statement of account; (7) A certification of the capacity of the person signing; and (8) A statement to the following effect: I, the undersigned duly authorized representative of the applicable educational institution, have examined this statement of account; hereby state that it is true, accurate, and complete to my knowledge after reasonable due diligence; and further certify that the licensee entity named herein qualifies as a Noncommercial Educational Webcaster for the relevant year, and did not exceed 160,000 total ATH in any month of the prior year for which the Noncommercial Educational Webcaster did not submit a statement of account and pay any required additional royalties. (d) Reporting by Noncommercial Educational Webcasters in general Reporting waiver. (2) Sample-basis reports. (3) Census-basis reports. (A) The Noncommercial Educational Webcaster exceeded 160,000 total ATH for any individual channel or station for more than one calendar month in the immediately preceding calendar year; (B) The Noncommercial Educational Webcaster expects to exceed 160,000 total ATH for any individual channel or station for any calendar month in the applicable calendar year; or (C) The Noncommercial Educational Webcaster otherwise does not elect to be subject to paragraph (d)(1) or (2) of this section. (ii) A Noncommercial Educational Webcaster required to report pursuant to paragraph (d)(3)(i) of this section shall provide reports of use to the Collective quarterly on a census reporting basis in accordance with § 370.4 of this chapter, except that, notwithstanding § 370.4(d)(2) of this chapter, such a Noncommercial Educational Webcaster shall not be required to include ATH or actual total performances, and may in lieu thereof provide channel or station name and play frequency, during the first calendar year it reports in accordance with paragraph (d)(3) of this section. For the avoidance of doubt, after a Noncommercial Educational Webcaster has been required to report in accordance with paragraph (d)(3)(i) of this section for a full calendar year, it must thereafter include ATH or actual total Performances in its reports of use. All reports of use under paragraph (d)(3)(i) of this section shall be submitted to the Collective no later than the 30th day after the end of each calendar quarter. (e) Server logs. (f) Terms in general. Subpart D—Public Broadcasters Source: 91 FR 11466, Mar. 10, 2026, unless otherwise noted. § 380.30 Definitions. For purposes of this subpart, the following definitions apply: Authorized website CPB Music ATH NPR Originating Public Radio Station (1) Is licensed as such by the Federal Communications Commission; (2) Originates programming and is not solely a repeater station; (3) Is a member or affiliate of NPR, American Public Media, Public Radio International, or Public Radio Exchange, a member of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters, or another public radio station that is qualified to receive funding from CPB pursuant to its criteria; (4) Qualifies as a “noncommercial webcaster” under 17 U.S.C. 114(f)(4)(E)(i); and (5) Either— (i) Offers website Performances only as part of the mission that entitles it to be exempt from taxation under section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 501); or (ii) In the case of a governmental entity (including a Native American Tribal governmental entity), is operated exclusively for public purposes. Person Public Broadcasters Side Channel Term Website Website Performances Website Users § 380.31 Royalty fees for the public performance of sound recordings and for ephemeral recordings. (a) Royalty fees. (1) 2026: $950,000; (2) 2027: $975,000; (3) 2028: $1,000,000; (4) 2029: $1,025,000; and (5) 2030: $1,050,000. (b) ATH limit. (c) Calculation of License Fee. (1) An annual minimum fee for each Public Broadcaster for each year during the Term; (2) Additional usage fees for certain Public Broadcasters; and (3) A discount that reflects the administrative convenience to the Collective (for purposes of this subpart, the term “Collective” refers to SoundExchange, Inc.) of receiving consolidated reporting of usage in accordance with § 380.32(b) that covers a large number of separate entities and annual lump sum payments that cover a large number of separate entities, as well as the predictability, time value of money and protection from bad debt that arises from being paid in advance. (d) Increase in Public Broadcasters. (e) Ephemeral Recordings royalty fees; allocation between Ephemeral Recordings and performance royalty fees. (f) Effect of non-performance by any Public Broadcaster. (g) Use of contractors. (1) Obligate such third Person to provide all such services in accordance with all applicable provisions of the statutory licenses and this subpart; (2) Specify that such third Person shall have no right to make website Performances or any other performances or Ephemeral Recordings on its own behalf or on behalf of any Person or entity other than a Public Broadcaster through the Public Broadcaster's Authorized website by virtue of its services for the Public Broadcaster, including in the case of Ephemeral Recordings, pre-encoding or otherwise establishing a library of sound recordings that it offers to a Public Broadcaster or others for purposes of making performances, but instead must obtain all necessary licenses from the Collective, the copyright owner or another duly authorized Person, as the case may be; (3) Specify that such third Person shall have no right to grant any sublicenses under the statutory licenses; and (4) Provide that the Collective is an intended third-party beneficiary of all such obligations with the right to enforce a breach thereof against such third Person. § 380.32 Terms for making payment of royalty fees and statements of account. (a) Payment to the Collective. (1) CPB inability to pay. (2) Dissolution of CPB. e.g., e.g., (3) Consequence of nonpayment. (b) Reporting. (c) Terms in general. Subpart E—Nonsubscription Transmissions by Commercial Broadcasters Source: 91 FR 11458, Mar. 10, 2026, unless otherwise noted. § 380.40 Definitions. In addition to the definitions in § 380.7, the following definitions apply for purposes of this subpart: Collective Commercial Broadcaster Commercial Webcaster Copyright Owners Digital Audio Transmission Eligible Transmission Ephemeral Recording Licensee Noncommercial Educational Webcaster Noncommercial Webcaster Nonsubscription Payor (1) A Licensee, in relation to the Collective; and (2) The Collective in relation to a Copyright Owner or Performer. Performance e.g., (1) A performance of a sound recording that does not require a license ( e.g., (2) A performance of a sound recording for which the service has previously obtained a license from the Copyright Owner of such sound recording; and (3) An incidental performance that both: (i) Makes no more than incidental use of sound recordings including, but not limited to, brief musical transitions in and out of commercials or program segments, brief performances during news, talk and sports programming, brief background performances during disk jockey announcements, brief performances during commercials of sixty seconds or less in duration, or brief performances during sporting or other public events; and (ii) Does not contain an entire sound recording, other than ambient music that is background at a public event, and does not feature a particular sound recording of more than thirty seconds (as in the case of a sound recording used as a theme song). Performers Public Broadcaster Qualified Auditor Transmission § 380.41 Royalty fees for the public performance of sound recordings by Commercial Broadcasters making Nonsubscription Transmissions and for Ephemeral Recordings. (a) Royalty fees. (1) 2026: $0.0028 per Performance; (2) 2027: $0.0029 per Performance; (3) 2028: $0.0030 per Performance; (4) 2029: $0.0031 per Performance; and (5) 2030: $0.0032 per Performance. (b) Minimum fee. (i) 2026: $1,100; (ii) 2027: $1,150; (iii) 2028: $1,200; (iv) 2029: $1,250; and (v) 2030: $1,250. (2) The Collective must apply the fee to the Commercial Broadcaster's account as credit towards any additional royalty fees that the Commercial Broadcaster may incur under this subpart in the same year. The fee is payable for each individual channel and each individual station maintained or operated by the Commercial Broadcaster and making Nonsubscription Digital Audio Transmissions of sound recordings pursuant to 17 U.S.C. 114 during each calendar year or part of a calendar year during which it is a Licensee. The maximum aggregate minimum fee that a Commercial Broadcaster making Nonsubscription Digital Audio Transmissions of sound recordings pursuant to 17 U.S.C.114 must pay under this subpart in any calendar year is 100 multiplied by the applicable amount specified in paragraph (b)(1) of this section. The minimum fee is nonrefundable. (c) Ephemeral Recordings royalty fees; allocation between Ephemeral Recordings and performance royalty fees. § 380.42 Making payment of royalty fees. (a) Payment to the Collective. (b) Monthly payments. (c) Minimum payments. (d) Late fees. (2) In a case in which, pursuant to § 380.46(g), an auditor determines that a Commercial Broadcaster underpaid royalties pursuant to this subpart: (i) The late fee applicable to the underpayment so discovered shall accrue at the rate of 1% (or the highest lawful rate, whichever is lower) of the underpayment amount per month during the period starting on the date that the relevant notice of intent to audit is filed with the Copyright Royalty Judges pursuant to § 380.46(c), and ending on the date that the auditor provides its written report pursuant to § 380.46(f); (ii) The late fee applicable to the underpayment so discovered shall accrue at the rate provided in paragraph (d)(1) of this section at all other times between the due date and the date that the Collective receives the underpayment so discovered; and (iii) The total amount of late fees applicable to the underpayment so discovered shall in no event exceed 75% of the principal amount of the underpayment so discovered. (e) Waiver of late fees. (f) Notice regarding noncompliant Statements of Account. (g) Use of account numbers. § 380.43 Delivering statements of account. (a) Statements of Account. (1) Such information as is necessary to calculate the accompanying royalty payment; (2) The name, address, business title, telephone number, facsimile number (if any), electronic mail address (if any) and other contact information of the person to be contacted for information or questions concerning the content of the Statement of Account; (3) The account number assigned to the Licensee by the Collective for the relevant service offering (if the Licensee has been notified of such account number by the Collective); (4) The signature of: (i) The Licensee or a duly authorized agent of the Licensee; (ii) A partner or delegate if the Licensee is a partnership; or (iii) An officer of the corporation if the Licensee is a corporation. (5) The printed or typewritten name of the person signing the Statement of Account; (6) If the Licensee is a partnership or corporation, the title or official position held in the partnership or corporation by the person signing the Statement of Account; (7) A certification of the capacity of the person signing; (8) The date of signature; and (9) An attestation to the following effect: I, the undersigned owner/officer/partner/agent of the Licensee have examined this Statement of Account and hereby state that it is true, accurate, and complete to my knowledge after reasonable due diligence and that it fairly presents, in all material respects, the liabilities of the Licensee pursuant to 17 U.S.C. 112(e) and 114 and applicable regulations adopted under those sections. (b) Certification. § 380.44 Distributing royalty fees. (a) Distribution of royalties. (2) The Collective must use its best efforts to identify and locate Copyright Owners and featured artists in order to distribute royalties payable to them under 17 U.S.C. 112(e) and 114. Such efforts must include, but not be limited to, searches in Copyright Office public records and published directories of sound recording Copyright Owners. (b) Unclaimed funds. (c) Retention of records. (d) Designation of the Collective. (2) If SoundExchange, Inc. should dissolve or cease to be governed by a board consisting of equal numbers of representatives of Copyright Owners and Performers, then it shall be replaced for the applicable royalty period by a successor Collective according to the following procedure: (i) The nine Copyright Owner representatives and the nine Performer representatives on the SoundExchange board as of the last day preceding SoundExchange's cessation or dissolution shall vote by a majority to recommend that the Copyright Royalty Judges designate a successor and must file a petition with the Copyright Royalty Judges requesting that the Judges designate the named successor and setting forth the reasons therefor. (ii) Within 30 days of receiving the petition, the Copyright Royalty Judges must issue an order designating the recommended Collective, unless the Judges find good cause not to make and publish the designation in the Federal Register § 380.45 Handling confidential information. (a) Definition. (b) Use of Confidential Information. (c) Disclosure of Confidential Information. (1) Those employees, agents, consultants, and independent contractors of the Collective, subject to an appropriate written confidentiality agreement, who are engaged in the collection and distribution of royalty payments hereunder and activities related directly thereto who require access to the Confidential Information for the purpose of performing their duties during the ordinary course of their work; (2) A Qualified Auditor or outside counsel who is authorized to act on behalf of: (i) The Collective with respect to verification of a Licensee's statement of account pursuant to this part; or (ii) A Copyright Owner or Performer with respect to the verification of royalty distributions pursuant to this part; (3) Copyright Owners and Performers, including their designated agents, whose works a Licensee used under the statutory licenses set forth in 17 U.S.C. 112(e) and 114 by the Licensee whose Confidential Information is being supplied, subject to an appropriate written confidentiality agreement, and including those employees, agents, consultants, and independent contractors of such Copyright Owners and Performers and their designated agents, subject to an appropriate written confidentiality agreement, who require access to the Confidential Information to perform their duties during the ordinary course of their work; (4) Attorneys and other authorized agents of parties to proceedings under 17 U.S.C. 112 and 114, acting under an appropriate protective order. (d) Safeguarding Confidential Information. § 380.46 Auditing payments and distributions. (a) General. (b) Frequency of auditing. (c) Notice of intent to audit. Federal Register (d) The audit. (e) Access to third-party records for audit purposes. (f) Duty of auditor to consult. (g) Audit results; underpayment or overpayment of royalties. (h) Paying the costs of the audit. i.e., (i) Retention of audit report. Subpart F—Educational Media Foundation Source: 91 FR 11462, Mar. 10, 2026, unless otherwise noted. § 380.50 Definitions. For purposes of this subpart, the following definitions apply: Collective Copyright Owners Digital Audio Transmission Eligible Transmission (1) made by the Licensee; (2) subject to licensing under 17 U.S.C. 114(d)(2); (3) transmitted over the internet on a channel or station offered for streaming to any member of the public who chooses to listen and that provides only linear programming that is not personalized to any particular listener. Ephemeral Recording Licensee Noncommercial Webcaster Nonsubscription Payor (1) The Licensee, in relation to the Collective; and (2) The Collective in relation to a Copyright Owner or Performer. Performance e.g., (1) A performance of a sound recording that does not require a license ( e.g., (2) A performance of a sound recording for which the Licensee has previously obtained a license from the Copyright Owner of such sound recording; and (3) An incidental performance that both: (i) Makes no more than incidental use of sound recordings including, but not limited to, brief musical transitions in and out of commercials or program segments, brief performances during news, talk and sports programming, brief background performances during disk jockey announcements, brief performances during commercials of sixty seconds or less in duration, or brief performances during sporting or other public events; and (ii) Does not contain an entire sound recording, other than ambient music that is background at a public event, and does not feature a particular sound recording of more than thirty seconds (as in the case of a sound recording used as a theme song). Performers Qualified Auditor § 380.51 Royalty fees for Eligible Transmissions of sound recordings and the making of Ephemeral Recordings. (a) Royalty fees. (1) 2026: $7,125,000.00 ($593,750.00 per month); (2) 2027: $7,410,000.00 ($617,500.00 per month); (3) 2028: $7,706,400.00 ($642,200.00 per month); (4) 2029: $8,014,656.00 ($667,888.00 per month); and (5) 2030: $8,335,242.24 ($694,603.52 per month). (b) Allocation between Ephemeral Recordings and performance royalty fees. (c) Other Digital Audio Transmissions. § 380.52 Making payment of royalty fees. (a) Payment to the Collective. (b) Monthly payments. (c) Reports of Use. (d) Late fees. (1) Waiver of late fees. (2) Notice regarding noncompliant Statements of Account. (e) Use of account numbers. § 380.53 Delivering statements of account. Statements of Account. (1) The amount of the royalty payment and the month for which it is submitted; (2) The name, address, business title, telephone number, facsimile number (if any), electronic mail address (if any) and other contact information of the person to be contacted for information or questions concerning the content of the Statement of Account; (3) The account number assigned to the Licensee by the Collective for the relevant service offering (if the Licensee has been notified of such account number by the Collective); (4) The signature of: (i) The Licensee or a duly authorized agent of the Licensee; (ii) A partner or delegate if the Licensee is a partnership; or (iii) An officer of the corporation if the Licensee is a corporation. (5) The printed or typewritten name of the person signing the Statement of Account; (6) If the Licensee is a partnership or corporation, the title or official position held in the partnership or corporation by the person signing the Statement of Account; (7) A certification of the capacity of the person signing; (8) The date of signature; and (9) An attestation to the following effect: I, the undersigned owner/officer/partner/agent of the Licensee have examined this Statement of Account and hereby state that it is true, accurate, and complete to my knowledge after reasonable due diligence and that it fairly presents, in all material respects, the liabilities of the Licensee pursuant to 17 U.S.C. 112(e) and 114 and applicable regulations adopted under those sections. (b) Certification. § 380.54 Distributing royalty fees. (a) Distribution of royalties. (2) The Collective must use its best efforts to identify and locate Copyright Owners and featured artists in order to distribute royalties payable to them under 17 U.S.C. 112(e) and 114. Such efforts must include, but not be limited to, searches in Copyright Office public records and published directories of Copyright Owners. (b) Unclaimed funds. (c) Retention of records. (d) Designation of the Collective. (2) If SoundExchange, Inc. should dissolve or cease to be governed by a board consisting of equal numbers of representatives of Copyright Owners and Performers, then it shall be replaced for the applicable royalty period by a successor Collective according to the following procedure: (i) The nine Copyright Owner representatives and the nine Performer representatives on the SoundExchange board as of the last day preceding SoundExchange's cessation or dissolution shall vote by a majority to recommend that the Copyright Royalty Judges designate a successor and must file a petition with the Copyright Royalty Judges requesting that the Judges designate the named successor and setting forth the reasons therefore. (ii) Within 30 days of receiving the petition, the Copyright Royalty Judges must issue an order designating the recommended Collective, unless the Judges find good cause not to make and publish the designation in the Federal Register § 380.55 Handling confidential information. (a) Definition. (b) Use of Confidential Information. (c) Disclosure of Confidential Information. (1) Those employees, agents, consultants, and independent contractors of the Collective, subject to an appropriate written confidentiality agreement, who are engaged in the collection and distribution of royalty payments hereunder and activities related directly thereto who require access to the Confidential Information for the purpose of performing their duties during the ordinary course of their work; (2) A Qualified Auditor or outside counsel who is authorized to act on behalf of: (i) The Collective with respect to verification of the Licensee's statement of account pursuant to this part; or (ii) A Copyright Owner or Performer with respect to the verification of royalty distributions pursuant to this part; (3) Copyright Owners and Performers, including their designated agents, whose works the Licensee used under the statutory licenses set forth in 17 U.S.C. 112(e) and 114 by the Licensee whose Confidential Information is being supplied, subject to an appropriate written confidentiality agreement, and including those employees, agents, consultants, and independent contractors of such Copyright Owners and Performers and their designated agents, subject to an appropriate written confidentiality agreement, who require access to the Confidential Information to perform their duties during the ordinary course of their work; (4) Attorneys and other authorized agents of parties to proceedings under 17 U.S.C. 112 and 114, acting under an appropriate protective order. (d) Safeguarding Confidential Information. § 380.56 Auditing payments and distributions. (a) General. (b) Frequency of auditing. (c) Notice of intent to audit. Federal Register (d) The audit. (e) Access to third-party records for audit purposes. (f) Duty of auditor to consult. (g) Audit results; underpayment or overpayment of royalties. (h) Paying the costs of the audit. i.e., (i) Retention of audit report.