Calling 2017 a year of "challenges" after integration of DTS and Tessera, Xperi CEO Jon Kirchner on its fiscal Q1 call Tuesday projected North American HD Radio new car design wins to reach 65 percent penetration by 2022 on deployment in lower-end models, up from 50 percent last year. Globally, Xperi hopes to establish connected radio as a “must have” offering for OEMs. Mobile market trends include 3D face recognition, multi-camera, multi-modal biometric security features, said the top executive. He also cited Xperi’s recently announced partnership with Huawei and Imax for augmented and virtual reality experiences in China. The company is moving its focus beyond IP, where it settled litigation with Broadcom via a multiyear license, and has five trial dates with Samsung 2018-19, Kirchner said.

Led by eight music organizations, 213 artists back passage of the Compensating Legacy Artists for their Songs, Service and Important Contributions to Society (Classics) Act, which would ensure royalty payments to artists when music recorded before Feb. 15, 1972, is played on digital radio. The coalition argued Tuesday the bill would close one of “copyright law’s most glaring loopholes” (see 1802080046). An advertisement has the artists saying digital radio earns billions of dollars a year on the older music, but the artists and copyright owners take home nothing due to ambiguity in state and federal copyright law. Among those signing were A2IM, the American Federation of Musicians, Content Creators Coalition, musicFIRST Coalition, Recording Academy, RIAA, Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and SoundExchange.

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals' BMG v. Cox is of limited relevance to issues before U.S. District Court in Austin and doesn't support a variety of music labels in their opposition to Grande Communications' pending motions to dismiss, Grande said in a docket 17-cv-365 response (in Pacer) last week, replying to the labels' filing of supplemental authority pointing to the decision (see 1802080001). The cable operator said Cox doesn't address a "fatal" deficiency in the plaintiffs' claims -- the failure to allege facts showing specific instances of underlying direct copyright infringement by any Grande subscribers. Grande said even under the "willful blindness" intent standard allowed in Cox, labels didn't state a claim for contributory infringement and don't show a willful blindness to any actual instance of infringement.

The Songwriters Guild of America endorsed the Music Modernization Act (HR-4706/S-2334) Friday, saying lawmakers agreed to modify provisions to address the group's previous objections. Backers frame it as a compromise supported by songwriters, music publishers and digital streaming services to revamp elements of Copyright Act sections 114 and 115. It would affect some rules on U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York handling of cases involving DOJ consent decrees on the ASCAP and BMI performance rights organizations. House IP Subcommittee Vice Chairman Doug Collins, R-Ga., and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., filed HR-4706 in December (see 1712210046). Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, filed S-2334 in January (see 1801240049). SGA initially opposed HR-4706/S-2334 because it worried provisions in the bill inadequately benefited songwriters, including language that would create the Mechanical Licensing Collective. Digital services voluntarily agreed to fund the MLC as a self-governing body using a free-market standard for determining digital music royalty rates (see 1712290025). Agreed-upon amendments include doubling the number of songwriters and composers represented on the MLC's board and shifting the balance on a proposed Unclaimed Royalties Oversight Committee so half its members come from the music creator community and half from music publishers, SGA said. Lawmakers also agreed to modify language on payments to songwriters from music publishers' “unclaimed” funds under negotiated publishing agreements, SGA said. Music publishers agreed to join SGA in supporting the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement (Case) Act (HR-3945), which would establish the Copyright Claims Board, a voluntary alternative forum to U.S. District courts, for copyright owners to protect their work from infringement. The board would be housed in Copyright Office, with jurisdiction limited to civil copyright cases capped at $30,000 in damages (see 1710040058). HR4706/S-2334 is now “deserving of our support,” said SGA President Rick Carnes. “The bill as it now stands would -- on balance -- benefit those creators we are sworn to protect significantly more than no bill at all.” NAB, which also initially opposed HR4706/S-2334, signed on as a supporter in January after lawmakers modified the bill to assuage its concerns (see 1801260049).

The U.S. retained the top ranking in the 2018 edition of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Global Innovation Policy Center's annual global IP index (see 1702080038). It beat the U.K. by .01 points amid improving what the Chamber views as conditions on copyright and trademarks issues and a worsening situation on patents. The climate in the U.S. for patents is creating “considerable uncertainty for innovators,” the Chamber said. The U.S. dropped to a tie with Italy for No. 12 on patents, down from No. 10. “The majority of countries took steps to strengthen their IP systems and foster an environment that encourages and incentivizes creators to bring their ideas to market,” said GIPC President David Hirschmann. “While a clear pack of leaders in IP protection top the rankings, the leadership gap has narrowed in a new global race to the top.” The U.S. ranking “is the latest evidence that harmful congressional actions and court decisions have dangerously weakened the U.S. patent system, the central foundation of our innovation economy,” said Innovation Alliance Executive Director Brian Pomper. “The U.S. has dropped in its ranking primarily due the excessive cost and uncertainty for U.S. innovators created by the America Invents Act’s inter partes review process, as well as recent Supreme Court decisions that have created confusion over what can and cannot be patented.”

Comments are due March 8 on proposed Copyright Office rules amendments to clarify the eligibility requirements for its single application online registration option, said a notice in Tuesday's Federal Register. It said the proposed change also would eliminate the short form version of its paper applications and allow for paper applications to be certified with a typed or printed signature, removing the requirement of a handwritten signature.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and industry groups lauded 94-0 Senate confirmation of Andrei Iancu as Patent and Trademark Office director (see 1802050062), in Monday statements. Iancu “is incredibly accomplished in the field of intellectual property law and has been a strong advocate for an effective U.S. patent system throughout his career,” Goodlatte said. “With Iancu at the helm, we hope that America's innovators will benefit from an IP system that incentivizes invention, protects property, and curbs damaging abuse of patent litigation,” said CTA CEO Gary Shapiro. Iancu “has a well-deserved reputation as a thought leader on intellectual property issues,” said Internet Association Senior Vice President-Global Government Affairs Melika Carroll. BSA|The Software Alliance and the American Intellectual Property Law Association also praised Iancu's confirmation.

The Copyright Office electronic registration system will be offline for maintenance 5 p.m. EST Feb. 15 until 9 p.m. EST Feb. 19 at the latest, the CO said Monday. Feb. 19 is Washington’s Birthday, a federal holiday.

The Copyright Office set seven April hearings in Washington and Los Angeles on possible exemptions to Digital Millennium Copyright Act Section 1201’s ban on circumvention of technological protection measures as part of the office’s triennial review process for the statute, which began in July (see 1706300066). Civil liberties groups, computer scientists and library and tech associations seeking to renew exemptions for device jailbreaking, security research, e-books and other device software (see 1708090071). The Library of Congress granted 10 CO-recommended exemptions to 1201 in 2015 at the conclusion of the last triennial, including expansions of existing device unlocking and jailbreaking exemptions (see 1510270056). The CO recommended last year Congress shouldn’t use legislation to significantly revamp the statute but said legislators could expand the granting of permanent exemptions and improve the triennial process (see 1706220014). The Washington hearings will be 9 a.m.-5 p.m., April 10-13, in the Mumford Room of the LOC’s James Madison Building, the office said in Friday’s Federal Register. The Los Angeles hearings will be 9 a.m.-5 p.m., April 23-25, in UCLA School of Law, Room 1314. Requests are due before Feb. 22.

Amendments to Copyright Office rules for the group registration option for newspapers take effect March 1, said a notice in Tuesday's Federal Register. Among changes is a requirement applicants file online rather than on paper and that they upload a complete digital copy of each issue instead of submitting hard copies. The CO said the Library of Congress will put the digital copies of the registration filings into its collections, and give public onsite access, subject to restrictions in the final rule.