Register of Copyrights

Register of Copyrights
Incumbent
Vacant
United States Copyright Office
AppointerLibrarian of Congress
Constituting instrument17 U.S.C. § 701
Inaugural holderThorvald Solberg
Formation1897
Salarygoverned by 5 U.S.C. § 5314
Websitecopyright.gov

The Register of Copyrights is the director of the United States Copyright Office within the Library of Congress, as provided by 17 U.S.C. § 701. The Office has been headed by a Register since 1897. The Register is appointed by, and responsible to, the Librarian of Congress, with the Register's office located in the Library's James Madison Memorial Building.

Although the title suggests a clerical role, Registers of Copyrights have been responsible for creating the procedures and practices of the Copyright Office and establishing standards for registration of copyright. They have increasingly been responsible for setting or influencing United States copyright policy. Today the Register is responsible for administering rulemaking procedures and producing authoritative interpretations of some aspects of U.S. copyright law, as well as advising the Librarian of Congress on the triennial proceeding on exceptions to the anticircumvention rules of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The Register also routinely testifies before Congress on copyright policy matters.

As of May 2025, the position is vacant.[1] It was recently held by Shira Perlmutter, who took office October 25, 2020.[2] Perlmutter has filed a lawsuit against unauthorized firing by the president because the chain of command for the position rests only with the Librarian of Congress (who is authorized to appoint the registrar to a maximum term of ten years). Although the Senate never voted to make a change regarding this, in April 2017, the House of Representatives had voted to propose changing the Register of Copyrights to a position that is filled by presidential appointment with Senate confirmation. That never was voted upon by the Senate, so the existing policy remains as has been in place since the establishment of the Copyright Office.[3][4][5]

List of registers of copyrights

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The following persons have served as the register of copyrights:[6]

No. Image Registers Start of term End of term Length of term Refs
1 Thorvald Solberg July 1, 1897 April 21, 1930 11,961 days [7]
acting William Lincoln Brown April 22, 1930 June 4, 1934 1,505 days [8]
2 June 4, 1934 July 1, 1936 759 days
3 Clement Lincoln Bouvé August 1, 1936 December 31, 1943 2,699 days [9]
acting Richard Crosby De Wolf January 1, 1944 February 1, 1945 398 days [10]
4 Sam Bass Warner February 1, 1945 May 28, 1951 2,308 days [11]
acting Arthur Fisher May 28, 1951 September 12, 1951 108 days [12]
5 September 12, 1951 November 12, 1960[a] 3,350 days [13][14]
acting Abraham L. Kaminstein November 13, 1960 December 23, 1960 41 days [15]
6 December 24, 1960 August 31, 1971 3,903 days
7 George D. Cary September 1, 1971 March 9, 1973 556 days [14][16]
Acting Abe Goldman March 10, 1973 November 19, 1973 255 days [17]
8 Barbara Ringer[b] November 19, 1973 May 30, 1980 2,385 days [18][19]
9 David Ladd June 2, 1980 January 2, 1985 1,676 days [20]
Acting Donald Curran January 3, 1985 September 10, 1985 251 days [21]
10 Ralph Oman September 23, 1985 January 8, 1994 3,031 days [22]
acting Barbara Ringer November 27, 1993 August 6, 1994 253 days
11 Marybeth Peters August 7, 1994 December 31, 2010 5,991 days [23]
Acting Maria Pallante January 1, 2011 May 31, 2011 151 days [24]
12 June 1, 2011 October 21, 2016 1,970 days
Acting Karyn Temple October 21, 2016 March 26, 2019 887 days [25]
13 March 27, 2019 January 4, 2020 284 days
Acting Maria Strong January 5, 2020 October 24, 2020 294 days [26]
14 Shira Perlmutter October 25, 2020 May 10, 2025 [c] 1,807 days [27][28][29]

Table notes:

  1. ^ Died in office
  2. ^ First female Register. Ringer brought a sex discrimination suit that resulted in her being named to the position.
  3. ^ Legality of Perlmutter's dismissal by president is disputed

References

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  1. ^ Tully-McManus, Katherine (May 10, 2025). "Trump fires top US copyright official". POLITICO. Retrieved May 11, 2025.
  2. ^ "U.S. Copyright Office Welcomes New Register". Copyright Office NewsNet. No. 857. U.S. Copyright Office. October 26, 2020. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  3. ^ "Big content cheers as Congress votes on changes to US Copyright Office". Ars Technica. April 26, 2017. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  4. ^ "House Passes Copyright Office Reform Bill". Broadcasting & Cable. April 26, 2017. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  5. ^ https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1695/all-actions
  6. ^ "Registers of Copyrights". U.S. Copyright Office.
  7. ^ "Thorvald Solberg, 1897-1930". U.S. Copyright Office.
  8. ^ "William Lincoln Brown, 1934–1936; Acting, 1930–1934". U.S. Copyright Office.
  9. ^ "Clement Lincoln Bouvé, 1936-1943". U.S. Copyright Office.
  10. ^ "Richard Crosby De Wolf, Acting, 1944-1945". U.S. Copyright Office.
  11. ^ "Sam Bass Warner, 1945-1951". U.S. Copyright Office.
  12. ^ "Arthur Fisher, 1951-1960; Acting, May 1951-September 1951". U.S. Copyright Office.
  13. ^ Patry, William F. (1994). Copyright Law and Practice. Greenwood Press. p. 1212. ISBN 978-0-87179-855-8.
  14. ^ a b Patry, William F. (1994). Copyright Law and Practice. Greenwood Press. p. 1215. ISBN 978-0-87179-855-8.
  15. ^ "Abraham L. Kaminstein, 1960-1971; Acting, November 1960 – December 1960". U.S. Copyright Office.
  16. ^ "George D. Cary, 1971-1973". U.S. Copyright Office.
  17. ^ "Abe A. Goldman; Acting, 1973". U.S. Copyright Office.
  18. ^ "Barbara Ringer, 1973-1980; Acting, 1993-1994". U.S. Copyright Office.
  19. ^ Hall, Alison (November 19, 2019). "Barbara Ringer: Beyond the ©". Copyright Creativity at Work. Library of Congress. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  20. ^ "David Ladd, 1980-1985". U.S. Copyright Office.
  21. ^ "Donald Curran; Acting, 1985". U.S. Copyright Office.
  22. ^ "Ralph Oman, 1985-1993". U.S. Copyright Office.
  23. ^ "Marybeth Peters, 1994-2010". U.S. Copyright Office.
  24. ^ "Maria A. Pallante, 2011–2016; Acting, January 2011 to June 2011". U.S. Copyright Office.
  25. ^ "Karyn A. Temple, 2019–2020; Acting, 2016-2019". U.S. Copyright Office.
  26. ^ "Maria Strong; Acting, 2020". U.S. Copyright Office.
  27. ^ "Shira Perlmutter". U.S. Copyright Office.
  28. ^ Tully-McManus, Katherine (May 10, 2025). "Trump fires top US copyright official". Politico.
  29. ^ Smith, Dylan (May 23, 2025). "Fired Copyright Office Head Shira Perlmutter Sues Trump Administration Over 'Blatantly Unlawful' Dismissal". Digital Music News.

Sources

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