The following is a guest post by Jason Sloan, attorney-advisor. The December 31 deadline is soon approaching for online service providers to re-register their previous DMCA agent designations with the U.S. Copyright Office. What’s this all about? Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), certain kinds of online service providers—for example, those that allow users […]
The following is a guest post by Aurelia J. Schultz, counsel for policy and international affairs. At its annual meeting in Geneva in October, the member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) discussed the future work of the Intergovernmental Committee on Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore—called the IGC for short. The IGC’s […]
The following is a guest post by Erik Bertin, deputy director of registration policy and practice. Today is an important milestone in U.S. copyright law. It is the last possible day for serving a notice of termination under section 304(d) of the Copyright Act, which governs some older works. Authors or their heirs may use […]
The following is a guest post by Emily Lanza, Counsel for Policy & International Affairs. Staff attorneys in the Office of Policy and International Affairs (PIA) here at the U.S. Copyright Office often work with our colleagues in other agencies, providing expert advice on domestic and international copyright issues. Since the Copyright Office was created […]
The following is a guest post by Whitney Levandusky, attorney-adviser, Office of Public Information and Education. On September 21, the Copyright Office released a fresh batch of circulars. Circulars are publications intended to provide a general audience with up-to-date and authoritative copyright information. They have been used by the Office since the late 1800s, and […]
I taught group fitness classes for many years, and I choreographed hundreds of complex step routines. I learned from some of the best choreographers in the industry, all who were willing to share their genius. I always wondered how much of their work I could legally use. Could they register a copyright for it? Could […]
The following is a guest post by Claire Cahoon, a rising senior at Ithaca College, who is diving into history this summer at the U.S. Copyright Office, as part of the Library of Congress Junior Fellows Program. You never know what you’re going to find digging through the archives of Copyright deposits—it could be a […]
The following is a guest post by Alexandra El-Bayeh, registration specialist in the Office of Registration Policy & Practice. The Copyright Office’s new rule requiring applicants to file supplementary registrations online goes into effect today. On June 15, 2017 the Office published the final rule after receiving comments from the public. What is a supplementary […]
As a girl in the 1970s, Wonder Woman was my hero. Seriously, who wouldn’t want to twirl in circles and turn into a super hero? On top of that, she had the invisible plane, magic belt, bullet-stopping bracelets, the lasso of truth, and that awesome tiara. So when I found out Librarian of Congress Carla […]
The following is a guest post by Abioye Mosheim, attorney advisor, Office of General Counsel. Today, the Office is pleased to announce the launch of an online database of recent decisions (April 2016 to present) made by the Copyright Office Review Board. The Office will update the database as new decisions are issued. The Review […]