Since 1992, Americans have commemorated May as Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. This month, we explore the creativity and innovation of Asian Americans and Pacific Islander graphic novelists. Through illustrations and written expression, graphic novels discuss difficult topics and share deep insights on cultural identity in a compelling and approachable way …
The Copyright Office celebrates Women’s History Month and this year’s theme, “Women who advocate for equity, diversity, and inclusion.” As part of this year’s celebration, Copyright Office staff sat down with Sarah Beth Morgan, an animation director, illustrator, and muralist who has practiced art across the country. Morgan attended Savannah College of Art and Design …
This blog post introduces the U.S. Copyright Office’s newest Learning Engine video, “History of Copyright,” which chronicles the history of copyright and the Copyright Office. The Office has released the video, and this blog post, timed with the 234th anniversary of the Congressional bill that eventually became the first federal copyright law.
Every year on January 1, a new class of creative works enters the public domain in the United States. This year, a variety of works published in 1928, ranging from motion pictures to music to books, joined others in the public domain. The public domain has important historical and cultural benefits in the lifecycle of copyright. Here we highlight a selection of works entering the public domain in 2024.
This summer, the Copyright Office reached a new milestone in our modernization efforts: one million card catalog records have been digitized with searchable metadata and added to the Office’s Copyright Public Records System (CPRS) pilot. Learn more about CPRS, the Office’s digitization efforts, and historical registration application cards in this blog post.
In April and May 2023, the Copyright Office hosted four public, virtual listening sessions on the use of artificial intelligence to generates works in creative fields. The listening sessions focused on four different categories of works: literary works, including print journalism and software; visual arts; audiovisual works, including video games; and music and sound recordings. This blog post provides a brief recap of the four listening sessions.
The best edition physical deposit requirement for copyright registration has long been a key part of U.S. copyright law, but in recent years, the U.S. Copyright Office has worked to clarify and simplify some of the deposit requirements. This blog post outlines some of the recent changes and where to find more information.
This Native American Heritage Month, we are celebrating the "firsts" in a blog series called, "Celebrating the Firsts: Shining a Light on Trailblazing Artwork by Native Artists." This blog features the first painting by a Native American artist acquired by the National Gallery of Art. The painting is called I See Red: Target and is by Juane Quick-to-See Smith (Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation).
DC’s public art scene is full of contributions from AAPI artists. In honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, we’re celebrating some of the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who are painting the walls of DC—and exploring how the copyright system supports their creativity.
