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Posted by: Alison Hall
As the holiday season approaches, consumers purchase many games as gifts. Of all the games I’ve played, Bingo stands out as a favorite. Bingo has a long history—as a game and as a source for many works registered with the Copyright Office. As a teenager, I volunteered at my church’s weekly Bingo game. I either …
Posted in: Copyright, Copyright Lore
Posted by: Alison Hall
Today we celebrate the forty-sixth anniversary of Barbara Ringer’s appointment as the first female Register of Copyrights. While her tenure was long before my time in the Copyright Office, I’m in awe of her dedication to intellectual property law and especially to equality and diversity in the workplace. Ringer earned her law degree and joined …
Posted in: Copyright, historical, Register of Copyrights, Women's History
Posted by: Alison Hall
Learn more about the connection between Edgar Allan Poe and copyright at the Copyright Matters event “Quoth the Raven: Edgar Allan Poe & Derivative Works.” As we approach October, thoughts often turn to colorful foliage, cozy hoodies, and pumpkin spice everything. Some thoughts also drift toward the spooky season, bringing to mind scary stories and …
Posted in: Copyright, Copyright Matters, historical, News and Events
Posted by: Alison Hall
The following is a guest post by Mark Gray, attorney-advisor in the Office of the General Counsel. The deadline for the first wave of DMCA agent renewals is almost here. This post will explain what service providers need to know to maintain active agent registrations with the Copyright Office, and it will also answer some …
Posted in: Copyright, DMCA, online service provider
Posted by: Alison Hall
Not only is the Library of Congress celebrating the 200th anniversary of Walt Whitman’s birth all month, but May is also the anniversary of Leaves of Grass, one of Whitman’s best-known works. Walter Whitman (as he called himself then) registered his copyright for the first edition of Leaves of Grass on May 15, 1855, in …
Posted in: Copyright, historical, Uncategorized, virtual card catalog