37 CFR § 381.9 - Unknown copyright owners.
---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t37/s381.9"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "37 CFR § 381.9 - Unknown copyright owners."
title_number: 37
title_name: "Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights"
section_number: "381.9"
section_name: "Unknown copyright owners."
chapter_name: "COPYRIGHT ROYALTY BOARD, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS"
subchapter_number: "E"
subchapter_name: "RATES AND TERMS FOR STATUTORY LICENSES"
part_number: "381"
part_name: "USE OF CERTAIN COPYRIGHTED WORKS IN CONNECTION WITH NONCOMMERCIAL EDUCATIONAL BROADCASTING"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-04-05"
last_updated: "2026-04-05"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "17 U.S.C. 118, 801(b)(1) and 803."
regulatory_source: "72 FR 67647, Nov. 30, 2007, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "381"
---
# 381.9 Unknown copyright owners.
If PBS and its stations, NPR and its stations, or other public broadcasting entity is not aware of the identity of, or unable to locate, a copyright owner who is entitled to receive a royalty payment under this part, they shall retain the required fee in a segregated trust account for a period of three years from the date of the required payment. No claim to such royalty fees shall be valid after the expiration of the three-year period. Public broadcasting entities may establish a joint trust fund for the purposes of this section. Public broadcasting entities shall make available to the Copyright Royalty Judges, upon request, information concerning fees deposited in trust funds.