Top of page
Posted by: Steve Andreadis
The U.S. Copyright Office hosts Copyright Office Presents: 150 Years of Celebrating Creativity on August 5, 2020, online at noon eastern time.
Posted in: Copyright, historical, Inside the Copyright Office, News and Events
Posted by: Nicole McNew Chen
The Statue of Liberty, officially named Liberty Enlightening the World, is one of the most recognized sculptures ever registered for copyright, and a reminder of the power of copyright-protected works and the inspiration they can provide to all of us.
Posted in: Copyright, Copyright Lore, historical, Uncategorized
Posted by: Alison Hall
To celebrate women's history month, I wanted to write about the five women who have served (and are serving) as leaders of the U.S. Copyright Office. Women have led this Office consecutively since November 1993, and their accomplishments are nothing short of incredible. These five lawyers (who all attended either Columbia Law School or George Washington Law) have contributed over 100 years of public service to the Copyright Office, counting all their roles. This blog shows just a snapshot of their accomplishments and contributions to copyright.
Posted in: Copyright, Copyright Lore, historical, Inside the Copyright Office, Register of Copyrights, Women's History
Posted by: Nicole McNew Chen
On January 1, thousands of 1924 works entered the public domain. An important part of the copyright lifecycle, you can use works in the public domain freely to inspire your own creativity. Explore some of the notable additions from George and Ira Gershwin, Buster Keaton, W. E. B. Du Bois, and more.
Posted in: Copyright, film, historical, music, Public Domain
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: Steve Andreadis
Copyright issues were part of the Apollo 11 mission, which launched fifty years ago this year, and continue to be relevant today.
Posted in: Copyright, historical, News and Events
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
Posted by: George Thuronyi
The full set of Copyright Card Catalog images is now available online in our Virtual Card Catalog (VCC) Proof of Concept. A full year after our first release of the VCC in January 2018, the VCC has come a long way. We began last year by releasing nearly eighteen million card images from 1955 to 1977 to …
Posted in: Copyright, historical, virtual card catalog