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Posted by: Anandashankar Mazumdar
The following is a guest post by Chandel Boozer, spring 2021 law clerk in the Office of Policy and International Affairs. In the United States, authors can share their unique perspectives based on their varying life experiences, ethnicities, and beliefs. Amongst those authors, poets have the ability to succinctly capture an emotion or experience with …
Posted in: Uncategorized
Posted by: Anandashankar Mazumdar
The following is a guest blog post by Marilyn Creswell, Librarian-in-Residence at the U.S. Copyright Office. Magicians do not always reveal their tricks, even when they register their copyright claims. The legendary Hungarian immigrant Harry Houdini registered three of his famous illusions as “playlets,” or short plays, with the U.S. Copyright Office between 1911 and …
Posted in: Uncategorized
Posted by: Anandashankar Mazumdar
The following is a guest blog post by Shira Perlmutter, Register of Copyrights and Director, U.S. Copyright Office. On Friday, March 13, 2020, the Library of Congress closed its buildings to the public and initiated pandemic operations. At the end of October, I was sworn in virtually by the Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden. …
Posted in: Copyright, Inside the Copyright Office, Register of Copyrights, Registration, Uncategorized
Posted by: Anandashankar Mazumdar
Two years ago, the United States joined the Marrakesh Treaty, which has proven to be a success.
Posted in: Copyright, Register of Copyrights
Posted by: Anandashankar Mazumdar
On January 1, a new raft of creative works of expression entered the public domain in the United States. The term of copyright has ended for works published or registered in 1925, which now join pre-1924 works already in the public domain and available for use by everyone without restrictions. Expiration of copyright term is …
Posted in: Copyright, historical, music
Posted by: Anandashankar Mazumdar
The following is a guest post by Robert J. Kasunic, Associate Register of Copyrights and Director of Registration Policy and Practice. This week, the Copyright Office released its registration processing times for the second half of fiscal 2020 (April–September 2020). We issue processing statistics twice during the fiscal year, so this latest update reflects registration …
Posted in: Copyright, coronavirus, Deposit Copies, Registration, Uncategorized
Posted by: Anandashankar Mazumdar
As the Copyright Office celebrates its 150th birthday, we can look back more than 240 years through the history of copyright protections in the United States to see how the law has changed in response to changing technologies and economics. The authors of the U.S. Constitution believed that copyright was important enough to explicitly grant …
Posted in: Copyright, court cases, historical, photography, Supreme Court
Posted by: Anandashankar Mazumdar
Like many Americans, the Copyright Office staff and the Office as an organization are experiencing unprecedented challenges since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. To ensure the safety of staff and visitors, the Library of Congress closed its buildings to the public, including the one that houses the Office, until further notice. In light of this, plus ongoing health and safety guidance from the Library, the Office has taken steps to shut down on-site operations.
Posted in: coronavirus, Register of Copyrights
Posted by: Anandashankar Mazumdar
Four adventurers join the U.S. Copyright Office on July 31 with presentations about their travels and their creativity.
Posted in: Copyright, Copyright Matters, music, photography