March 29, 2017

PRESS RELEASE

Copyright Alliance Applauds House Judiciary Committee for Prompt and Decisive Passage of the ‘Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act’ (H.R. 1695)

Bill would make selection process more effective and transparent and is critical to modernization of the U.S. Copyright Office

Washington, D.C. – March 29, 2017 – The Copyright Alliance applauded today’s approval of the Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act (H.R. 1695), which passed by the House Judiciary Committee, as amended, by an overwhelming majority of 27-1. 
 
According to Copyright Alliance CEO Keith Kupferschmid, “we commend Chairman Goodlatte, Ranking Member Conyers, and all who demonstrated vigorous and expeditious backing for this important piece of legislation, enabling it to be passed through committee with tremendous bipartisan support.”
“The Register of Copyrights is an extremely important position to the U.S. economy, creativity and culture, which should be acknowledged by making the role a presidential appointee subject to Senate confirmation – just as the head of the Patent and Trademark Office and so many other senior government officials are,” Kupferschmid continued.
 
“Making the Register a presidential appointee as provided in H.R.1695 will not only make the selection process more effective and transparent but it’s also critical to the continued modernization of the U.S. Copyright Office. The bill enjoys widespread bipartisan support and little opposition because of the narrow and modest approach taken and the tremendous support for a more transparent process for selecting the next Register of Copyrights. We look forward to continued support for this legislation and to its passage by the House in the near future.” said Kupferschmid.

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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.