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The United States Copyright Office Explained
The United States Copyright Office is charged with the effective record keeping of all copyright registration in the country. They are a division of the Library of Congress. The most common use of the United States Copyright Office is a search of copyright titles to determine the chain of title for works with a copyright. They goal of the US Copyright Office is to manage an effective national copyright system and therefore promote creativity. Other main functions of the office include: 1.Examining each copyright application to determine whether it matches the criteria set out by the copyright laws of the country. The office also keeps records as to the ownership of all copyrights.
2.For each registered work the Copyright Office will keep a record of the bibliographic description and facts related to the item.
3.The Copyright Office also assists congress it items related to copyright policy and law, both for the United States and internationally. Additionally they prepare technical studies about copyright related topics and assist in drafting legislation.
4.The Copyright Office is also available to assist the public with information and reference services related to copyrighted documents. The Copyright Office has a web site to which the public can subscribe. According to a law passed by congress in 1870 each author must deposit with the Library of Congress two copies of each book, pamphlet, map, print, and piece of music registered in the country. The Copyright Office maintains important records that are also a look of our countrys cultural history. The records maintained by the Copyright Office for materials registered between 1870 and 1977 are kept in James Madison Memorial Building using the Copyright Office Card Catalog. The over 16 million items that have been registered since 1977 can be found in an online database.
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