Copyright Alliance Statement on Appointment of Shira Perlmutter as Next Register of Copyrights

September 21, 2020

Washington, DC – Today, Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden announced the appointment of Shira Perlmutter as the next Register of Copyrights and Director of the United States Copyright Office. Perlmutter formerly worked as the Chief Policy Officer and Director for International Affairs at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) and will assume the role of Register in late October. The following is a statement by Copyright Alliance CEO Keith Kupferschmid regarding the announcement:

“On behalf of the Copyright Alliance and our members, we congratulate Shira Perlmutter on her appointment as the next Register of Copyrights and thank the Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden for selecting such an experienced, knowledgeable, and capable person to be the next Register. We also want to take this opportunity to thank Maria Strong for the incredible job she has done as the Acting Register, stewarding the Office through these challenging times.

“In appointing Register Perlmutter, Dr. Hayden has entrusted the U.S. Copyright Office to someone who has been a proven leader and a beacon of knowledge and integrity within the intellectual property community for decades and will serve all stakeholders and users of the Copyright Office services well in her new post.

“Throughout her illustrious career as a renowned intellectual property expert, Register Perlmutter has demonstrated that she understands and appreciates the importance of intellectual property to both the U.S. and international creative and user communities and to the public. In particular, in her role as the Chief Policy Officer at the USPTO, she has proven herself to be a thoughtful public servant, one who is able to effectively consider and balance the interests of all stakeholders, which is not easy to do in the intellectual property arena.

“As Register Perlmutter assumes her role as the 14th Register of Copyrights, leading the way for the principal federal entity charged with administering U.S. Copyright law and liaising with Congress on copyright policy decisions, we look forward to working with her on many critical Office initiatives — especially the continued efforts to modernize the Office — and to supporting the work that she and her staff will undertake.”

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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.