US Copyright Office
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| Agency overview | |
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| Formed | 1870 |
| Jurisdiction | Federal government of the United States |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
| Agency executive |
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| Parent agency | Library of Congress |
| Website | copyright |
The United States Copyright Office, a part of the Library of Congress, is the official U.S. government body that maintains records of copyright registration in the United States, including a Copyright Catalog. It is used by copyright title searchers who are attempting to clear a chain of title for copyrighted works.
The head of the Copyright Office is called the Register of Copyrights. The Acting Register is Karyn Temple Claggett, who replaced Maria Pallante upon her departure in October 2016.
The Copyright Office is housed on the fourth floor of the James Madison Memorial Building of the Library of Congress, at 101 Independence Avenue, SE, in Washington, DC.
The United States Constitution gives Congress the power to enact laws establishing a system of copyright in the United States, and the Copyright Act of 1790, the first federal copyright law, was enacted in May 1790 (with the first work being registered within two weeks). Originally, claims were recorded by Clerks of U.S. district courts. In 1870, copyright functions were centralized in the Library of Congress under the direction of the then Librarian of Congress Ainsworth Rand Spofford. The Copyright Office became a separate department of the Library of Congress in 1897, and Thorvald Solberg was appointed the first Register of Copyrights.
The mission of the Copyright Office is to promote creativity by administering and sustaining an effective national copyright system. While the purpose of the copyright system has always been to promote creativity in society, the functions of the Copyright Office have grown to include the following:
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