The Copyright Office

Copyright is a form of mental property protected by the laws of the United States. Copyright protection is the first works of authorship that are fixed in a real form, whether published or unpublished. The categories of works that can be protected by copyright laws include paintings, photographs, movies, and software.

The Copyright Office was created by Congress in 1897. The Register points to the Copyright Office as its own federal department. Pursuant to specific authorities set forth in the Copyright Act. Earlier in the Nation’s history. The Librarian of Congress administered copyright registration directly, and earlier still, from 1790-1896. U.S. district courts were responsible for doing that. The Copyright Office is responsible for

In fiscal year 2016, the Office processed over 468,000 claims for registration, issued over 414,000 registrations, received 91 percent of claims via our online application system, and collected $30 million in fees from registration.

The Office also acts as a conduit for the Library, providing certain works of authorship, known as copyright deposits, to the Library for its collections. In fiscal year 2016, the Office forwarded more than 636,000 works, worth a net value of $35.6 million, to the Library. During calendar year 2016, the Office collected over $244 million in royalty payments from compulsory and statutory licenses under sections 111, 119, and 1003. In recent years, the Office has taken steps, through a set of public discussions, to propose ways to modernize the Copyright Office by examining relationships between the law, regulations, registration practices, technology, access to data, and the evolving copyright marketplace. Finally, the Copyright Office works regularly with the Department of Justice, the Department of State, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Department of Commerce, including the Patent and Trademark Office, and the Office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement