The Register of Copyrights

The Register of Copyrights has two jobs: registering copyrightable works and providing information on copyright law to the government. The office is situated in Congress, not in the Executive Branch. Yet, there is pending legislation that would make the position of the Register of Copyrights subject to presidential appointment and Senate confirmation, as opposed to an appointment by the Librarian of Congress.

Why? Who knows. But it doesn’t seem to make sense to make the office a political appointee that could be influenced by a president’s policy stances partisan confirmation processes. The American Library Association opposes the bill and so do I. Today, I wrote my senators asking them to vote against the bill.