Title 37 C.F.R.
..CHAPTER II - COPYRIGHT OFFICE, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
...PART 203 - FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT: POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

• (a) In general. The organization of the Copyright Office consists of the Office of the Register of Copyrights and six operating divisions. The Office of the Register of Copyrights includes the Register of Copyrights, the Associate Registers, the Assistant Register, the International Copyright Officer, the Executive Officer, and the Administrative Office. The Register of Copyrights provides overall direction of the work of the Copyright Office. The Register is assisted by the Associate Registers of Copyright and other Officers, who have delegated responsibilities for particular aspects of the activities of the Copyright Office.
• (b) The Associate Register of Copyrights serves as a deputy to the Register of Copyrights and has oversight of the operating divisions of the Copyright Office. The operating divisions are:
  • (1) The Acquisitions and Processing Division, which receives incoming materials, dispatches outgoing materials, establishes control over fiscal accounts and controls over materials acquired for the collections of the Library of Congress under the deposit requirements of the copyright statute.
  • (2) The Examining Division, which examines all applications and material presented to the Copyright Office for registration of original and renewal copyright claims and for recordation of documents, and which determines whether the materials deposited constitute copyrightable subject matter and whether the other legal and formal requirements of Title 17 have been met.
  • (3) The Cataloging Division, which prepares the bibliographic description of all copyrighted works registered in the Copyright Office, including the recording of legal facts of copyright pertaining to each work, and creates a data base from which catalog cards and the Catalog of Copyright Entries are produced.
  • (4) The Information and Reference Division, which provides a national copyright information service through the public information office, educates staff and the public on the copyright law, issues and distributes information materials, responds to reference requests regarding copyright matters, prepares search reports based upon copyright records, certifies copies of legal documents concerned with copyright, and maintains liaison with the United States Customs Service, the Department of the Treasury, and the United States Postal Service on certain matters.
  • (5) The Licensing Division, which implements the sections of the Copyright Act dealing with secondary transmissions of radio and television programs, compulsory licenses for making and distributing phonorecords of nondramatic musical works, public performances through coin-operated phonorecord players, and use of published nondramatic musical, pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works in connection with noncommercial broadcasting.
  • (6) The Records Management Division, which develops, services, stores, and preserves the official records and catalogs of the Copyright Office, including applications for registration, historical records, and materials deposited for copyright registration that are not selected by the Library of Congress for addition to its collections.
• (c) The Associate Register of Copyrights for Legal Affairs and Copyright General Counsel is the principal legal officer of the Office. The General Counsel has overall supervisory responsibility for the legal staff and primary responsibility for providing liaison on legal matters between the Office and the Congress, the Department of Justice and other agencies of Government, the courts, the legal community, and a wide range of interests affected by the copyright law.
• (d) The Associate Register of Copyrights for Special Programs is primarily responsible for initiating, planning, developing, and implementing projects and activities covering the broad range of legal, international, and scholarly matters with which the Copyright Office deals.
• (e) The Office has no field organization.
• (f) The Office is located in The James Madison Memorial Building of the Library of Congress, 1st and Independence Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20559. The Public Information Office is located in Room LM-401. Its hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday except legal holidays. The phone number of the Public Information Office is (202) 287-8700. Informational material regarding the copyright law, the registration process, fees, and related information about the Copyright Office and its functions may be obtained free of charge from the Public Information Office upon request.
• (g) All Copyright Office forms may be obtained free of charge from the Public Information Office.

Procedures

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