Copyright Alliance CEO Urges Modernization of the Copyright Office in Testimony Before House Appropriations Subcommittee

PRESS RELEASE

Washington, D.C. Today, Copyright Alliance CEO Keith Kupferschmid testified before the House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Legislative Branch regarding Copyright Office Modernization.

According to Kupferschmid’s testimony, “Given the global and dynamic characteristics of the copyright ecosystem, the Copyright Office must be nimble to ensure it is able to offer the tools and resources that all users of the Office’s services demand, and Congress must have a direct line of communication with the Copyright Office so they are answerable immediately and directly to Members and their staffs. But neither of these exists today.”

Kupferschmid further noted that, “Unfortunately, the Copyright Office does not currently have the ability to rapidly adapt. Many of the challenges it faces can be traced back to the fact that the Copyright Office is within and under the ‘direction and supervision’ of the Library of Congress. The Copyright Office does not have its own Information Technology (IT) infrastructure; as a department of the Library, it is obligated to use the Library’s network, servers, telecommunications, security and all other IT operations the Library manages. It also lacks authority over its own budget and staffing because of this structure. For many years, the Copyright Office has sought to modernize, including in a recent strategic plan, but has been unable to do so because its priorities are subordinated to those of the Library’s. It is essential for modernization efforts that the Copyright Office be given autonomy over its own budget, staff, and information technology (IT) to carry out its mission going forward.“

You can access the entire testimony here.

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ABOUT THE COPYRIGHT ALLIANCE

The Copyright Alliance is a non-profit, non-partisan public interest and educational organization representing the copyright interests of over 1.8 million individual creators and over 13,000 organizations in the United States, across the spectrum of copyright disciplines. The Copyright Alliance is dedicated to advocating policies that promote and preserve the value of copyright, and to protecting the rights of creators and innovators. For more information, please visit www.copyrightalliance.org.

For media inquiries, contact:

Eileen Bramlet

VP Communications

ebramlet@copyrightalliance.org

571.228.1906

You can download the pdf version of this statement here.