The Office's mission is to promote creativity by administering and sustaining an effective national copyright system.

A Message from the Register of Copyrights


Maria Pallante, Register of Copyrights

Welcome to the U.S. Copyright Office. The Office is proud to be part of a long tradition of providing expert and impartial leadership and advice on copyright law and policy to Congress, federal agencies, the courts, and the general public.

Copyright law is the engine of free expression in our society and a major building block of the U.S. economy. Our national system of copyright law, which the Office administers, plays an essential role in the creation, promotion, and dissemination of American works of authorship throughout the world, and sustains businesses large and small in the information, entertainment, and technology sectors. The Office’s legal and policy functions help shape the future of copyright on a global scale, while the Office’s copyright registration system provides an authoritative record of American creativity.  The Office oversees statutory licensing programs for certain types of copyrighted works, and enriches the Library of Congress’s collections by ensuring that authors provide copies of their works to the Library in connection with the Copyright Act’s mandatory deposit provisions.

In October 2011, the Office began a twenty-four month evaluation of workflow processes, technologies, and services.  We are reaching out to those who use the Office and the public at large to develop a broad plan for our current and future operations and to help set the Office on a path to be an efficient and effective steward of the national copyright system.

You can find more information about the Office’s priorities, along with a wealth of information about the Office’s operations and copyright law, on this website. The site includes guidance on how to obtain a copyright registration and record a copyrighted-related document, and provides information on the many other services that the Office provides.  The website allows you to search for copyright records dating back to 1978 and access eCO, the Office’s online registration system, to register your work for copyright protection.  Look for current regulations, congressional testimony, all of our key publications, Office news, links to outside copyright resources, and much more.    

We hope you will find what you are looking for here and perhaps learn something new.  Our goal is to provide the best public service and the best quality product.  We welcome your comments.

Maria A. Pallante
Register of Copyrights