PART 383—RATES AND TERMS FOR SUBSCRIPTION TRANSMISSIONS AND THE REPRODUCTION OF EPHEMERAL RECORDINGS BY CERTAIN NEW SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES Authority: 17 U.S.C. 112(e), 114, and 801(b)(1). Source: 91 FR 11472, Mar. 10, 2026, unless otherwise noted. § 383.1 General. (a) Scope. (b) Legal compliance. (c) Relationship to voluntary agreements. § 383.2 Definitions. For purposes of this part, the following definitions shall apply: (a) Bundled Contracts (b) Collective (c) Copyright Owner (d) License Period (e) Licensee (f) Payor (1) A Licensee, in relation to the Collective; and (2) The Collective in relation to a Copyright Owner or Performer. (g) Performers (h) Provider (i) Qualified auditor (j) Service (1) Subscribers do not pay a separate fee for audio channels. (2) The audio channels are delivered by digital audio transmissions through a technology that is incapable of tracking the individual sound recordings received by any particular consumer. (3) However, paragraph (j)(2) of this section shall not apply to the Licensee's current contracts with Providers that are in effect as of the effective date of this part if such Providers become capable in the future of tracking the individual sound recordings received by any particular consumer, provided that the audio channels continued to be delivered to Subscribers by digital audio transmissions and the Licensee remains incapable of tracking the individual sound recordings received by any particular consumer. (k) Subscriber (l) Stand-Alone Contracts § 383.3 Royalty fees for public performances of sound recordings and the making of ephemeral recordings. (a) Royalty rates. (1) For Stand-Alone Contracts, a monthly payment of $0.0241 per Subscriber to the Service of such Licensee, which is equivalent to the 2025 royalty rate of $0.0234, as adjusted by the annual royalty fee adjustment in paragraph (b) of this section. (2) For Bundled Contracts, a monthly payment of $0.0401 per Subscriber to the Service of such Licensee, which is equivalent to the 2025 royalty rate of $0.0390, as adjusted by the annual royalty fee adjustment in paragraph (b) of this section. (b) Annual royalty fee adjustment. (2)(i) The calculation of the rate for each year shall be cumulative based on a calculation of the percentage increase in the CPI-U from the CPI-U published in November 2024 (CPI-U%) and shall be made according to the following formulas: (A) For Stand-Alone Contracts, (1 + (C y (B) For Bundled Contracts, (1 + (C y (ii) For both formulas C y (3) The Judges shall publish notice of the adjusted fees in the Federal Register (c) Minimum fee. (d) Allocation between ephemeral recordings fees and performance royalty fees. [91 FR 11472, Mar. 10, 2026, as amended at 91 FR 15544, Mar. 30, 2026] § 383.4 Distribution of royalties. The Collective must promptly distribute royalties received from Licensees to Copyright Owners and Performers that are entitled thereto, or to their designated agents. The Collective shall only be responsible for making distributions to those who provide the Collective with information as is necessary to identify and pay the correct recipient. The Collective must distribute royalties on a basis that values all usage by a Licensee equally based upon the information provided under the Reports of Use requirements for Licensees pursuant to § 370.4 of this chapter and this part. However, in any case in which a Licensee has not provided a compliant Report of Use, whether for the License Period or otherwise, and the board of directors of the Collective determines that further efforts to seek the missing Report of Use from the Licensee would not be warranted, the Collective may distribute the royalties associated with the Licensee's missing Report of Use on the basis of Reports of Use for the corresponding calendar year filed by other Licensees. § 383.5 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. § 383.6 Terms for making payment of royalty fees. (a) Terms in general. (b) Reporting of performances. (c) Applicable regulations.