American University’s Washington College of Law, along with other academic contributors, has launched the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Open Educational Resources (the Code). This forty-plus page report, the goal of which is to assist professors, teachers, librarians, and other educators in evaluating when and how they can incorporate third party copyright […]
The Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act (CASE Act) was passed by Congress on December 21, 2020 and signed into law on December 27, 2020 as a part of a much bigger omnibus spending bill. What Is It? The CASE Act creates a "Copyright Claims Board" (the Board) within the U.S. Copyright Office which can […]
Q: Thank you for updating the copyright overview on this site. What are the most important changes that you want us to know? A: Because the update reflects changes from 2014 through 2016 it includes a few decisions that readers may be familiar with such as the Google book scanning decision (Author’s Guild v. Hathitrust, […]
Bloggers and artists often ask, “how much of a photo do you need to alter to avoid copyright infringement?” Five changes? Fifteen? The Seventh Circuit addressed the issue in the Kienitz v Sconnie Nation case recently. According to the court, Sconnie Nation made t-shirts displaying an image of Madison Wisconsin mayor Paul Soglin, using […]
As part of its new draft Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices, Third Edition, we have guidance on registration for websites. The draft of the full compendium is over 1200 pages and covers publication, recordation, notice, deposits, along with other topics. Members of the public may make comments anytime before (or after) the Third Edition […]
A young music producer created an instrumental hip-hop beat and uploaded it online without first obtaining a copyright. After hearing a similar beat in a popular song by a well-known rapper, he registered a sound recording copyright for his …
A former congressman created personalized videos for paying customers through the Cameo platform. A late-night television host, using fictitious names, requested and purchased several of these videos. The host then broadcast some of the vide…
A former congressman created personalized videos for paying customers through the Cameo platform. A late-night television host, using fictitious names, requested and purchased several of these videos. The host then broadcast some of the vide…
A technology company developed and copyrighted a facial motion capture software system used in film production. The company’s assets, including the software, were transferred among several affiliated entities, leading to a disputed sale to a…
Two brothers, Tom and Robert Hoffmann, were formerly partners in a family heating and air conditioning business. After Robert bought out Tom’s interest, they settled their disputes in state court with an agreement that included a four-year p…
To create an administrative subpoena process to assist copyright owners in determining which of their copyrighted works have been used in the training of artificial intelligence models.
To amend titles 17, 18, and 35, United States Code, the Plant Variety Protection Act, and the Lanham Act to require the submission of a report to Congress before the negotiation of any international agreement relating to an intellectual property right, and for other purposes.
The U.S. Copyright Office is adjusting certain compliance dates related to the corrective adjustment process in its July 9, 2024, final rule on termination rights and other topics related to the Music Modernization Act. The final rule contained a discrepancy between a date in the rule’s regulatory text and its preamble. To resolve any confusion created by the discrepancy and ensure parties have adequate time to participate in the corrective adjustment process, the Office is adjusting the relevant compliance dates for all parties by extending each date by approximately thirty days from the original dates provided in the rule’s regulatory text.
The original final rule and the rule adjusting the compliance dates can both be found on the website.
Copyright Office Announces Open Application Period for Ringer Fellowships NewsNet 1076September 2, 2025 The Copyright Office is now accepting applications for the Barbara A. Ringer Copyright Honors Program. This fellowship, which runs eighteen to twenty-four months, was created for attorneys in the
Erik Bertin Appointed Acting Associate Register of Copyrights and Director of Registration Policy and Practice NewsNet 1075 September 2, 2025 The United States Copyright Office today announced that Erik Bertin will serve as Acting Associate Register of Copyrights and Director of Registration Policy
U.S. Copyright Office Invites Public to Webinar on Conducting Public Records Searches Using the Copyright Public Records System NewsNet 1074 August 26, 2025 The U.S. Copyright Office invites you to register for the upcoming webinar, Conducting Public Records Searches Using the Copyright Public Recor
U.S. Copyright Office Announces Webinar on Copyright Essentials for Writers NewsNet 1072 July 7, 2025 The U.S. Copyright Office invites you to register to attend the third session in our Copyright Essentials webinar series. The Plot Thickens: Copyright Essentials for Writers will take place on Augus
U.S. Copyright Office Replaces Online Public Catalog with Copyright Public Records System NewsNet 1071June 24, 2025 Today, the U.S. Copyright Office is pleased to announce that the Copyright Public Records System (CPRS) has replaced its Online Public Catalog. CPRS provides copyright registration and
The Copyright Royalty Judges announce receipt from SoundExchange, Inc., of notices of intent to audit the 2022, 2023, and 2024 statements of account submitted by commercial webcasters Alpha Media LLC and Univision Communications Inc. concerning royalty payments they made pursuant to two statutory li
On December 19, 2024, the Copyright Royalty Judges published for comment proposed regulations governing the rates and terms for the digital performances of sound recordings by new subscription services and for the making of ephemeral recordings necessary to facilitate those transmissions for the per
The Copyright Royalty Judges announce receipt from SoundExchange, Inc., of notices of intent to audit the 2021, 2022, and 2023 statements of account submitted by commercial webcasters Beasley Mezzanine Holdings, LLC, Hubbard Broadcasting Inc., iHeartMedia, and Midwest Communications, Inc. and non-co
The Copyright Royalty Judges publish their ruling on regulatory interpretation in a matter that was referred to them by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The regulation at issue is the definition of "Gross Proceeds" in the rates and terms set forth through settlements in
The Copyright Royalty Judges are publishing for comment proposed regulations governing the rates and terms for the digital performances of sound recordings by new subscription services and for the making of ephemeral recordings necessary to facilitate those transmissions for the period commencing Ja
Italian actor Raoul BovaThe use – and abuse – of IP rights to achieve objectives other than protecting what those rights were originally meant to do is not new. In all of this, however, the interplay between IP and privacy protection is arguably an emerging and still underexplored area.A story that
Originally posted 2012年04月09日 17:37:13. Republished by Blog Post PromoterCNET News / Reuters: The makers of Scrabble have asked Facebook to remove a popular online version of the word game, Scrabulous, which they say infringes their copyright. The U.S. and Canada rights to Scrabble are owned by Hasbr
Originally posted 2014年07月16日 19:54:07. Republished by Blog Post Promoter TMBrandingcap.com brings this quote from John Stuart, former Quaker Oats chairman: If this business were to be split up, I would be glad to take the brands, trademarks and goodwill and you could have all the bricks and mortar –
American University’s Washington College of Law, along with other academic contributors, has launched the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Open Educational Resources (the Code). This forty-plus page report, the goal of which is to assist professors, teachers, librarians, and other educators in evaluating when and how they can incorporate third party copyright […]
The Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act (CASE Act) was passed by Congress on December 21, 2020 and signed into law on December 27, 2020 as a part of a much bigger omnibus spending bill. What Is It? The CASE Act creates a "Copyright Claims Board" (the Board) within the U.S. Copyright Office which can […]
For the first time in twenty years, published works in the U.S. expired into the public domain. This anomaly was the direct result of the Copyright Term Extension Act that extended the length of copyright for works still in their renewal term at the time of the Act to 95 years. This effectively froze the […]
Q: Thank you for updating the copyright overview on this site. What are the most important changes that you want us to know? A: Because the update reflects changes from 2014 through 2016 it includes a few decisions that readers may be familiar with such as the Google book scanning decision (Author’s Guild v. Hathitrust, […]
How will libraries hold onto ebooks and other digital files like mp3s so that readers and scholars in the future can still read them? The current state of affairs relies on license agreements with publishers who in turn license to vendors, who in turn, license to libraries. Hardly sustainable when files can and do disappear […]
