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 …
If asked, many of us would easily be able to identify our favorite song or tune, and often to even quote verbatim (e.g., sing embarrassingly off-key) the actual bridge, melody, or lyrics that made that song so special. Whether it is the way a song made us laugh or reflected our innermost desires and fears, …
For a deeper dive into the Office’s recent efforts to successfully improve registration pendency times, as well as a historical look at registration, see the Office’s response to Congressional letters received on March 14 and April 3 regarding registration processing times. I was very excited to be selected as one of the twenty-five examiners hired …
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 …
It is an honor and pleasure to reintroduce myself to you as the United States Register of Copyrights. As the Supreme Court has said, copyright is intended to be the “engine of free expression.” The copyright system provides a critical framework to support creativity, culture, innovation and, yes, “free expression,” to the benefit of the …
The following is a guest post by Jalyce Mangum, attorney-advisor, Office of the General Counsel. Today, the Copyright Office releases a public draft of the latest update to the Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices. As both a technical manual for the Office’s staff, as well as a guidebook for authors, copyright licensees, lawyers, scholars, …
The following is a guest post by Regan A. Smith, General Counsel and Associate Register of Copyrights. Last week, the Supreme Court issued an important opinion regarding copyright registration. This blog discusses the decision, and some of the current (and future) options available for rights owners looking to register their copyright claims. What is the …