Register of Copyrights

The register of copyrights is the director of the United States Copyright Office within the Library of Congress, as provided by 17 U.S.C. § 701. The office has been headed by a register since 1897. The register is appointed by, and responsible to, the librarian of Congress, with the register's office located in the library's James Madison Memorial Building.

Register of Copyrights
Incumbent Vacant
United States Copyright Office
Appointer	Librarian of Congress
Constituting instrument	17 U.S.C. § 701
Inaugural holder	Thorvald Solberg
Formation	1897
Salary	governed by 5 U.S.C. § 5314
Website	copyright.gov

Although the title suggests a clerical role, registers of copyrights have been responsible for creating the procedures and practices of the Copyright Office and establishing standards for registration of copyright. They have increasingly been responsible for setting or influencing United States copyright policy. Today, the register is responsible for administering rulemaking procedures and producing authoritative interpretations of some aspects of U.S. copyright law, as well as advising the librarian of Congress on the triennial proceeding on exceptions to the anticircumvention rules of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The register also routinely testifies before Congress on copyright policy matters.

As of May 2025,^[update] the position is vacant. It was recently held by Shira Perlmutter, who took office October 25, 2020. Perlmutter has filed a lawsuit against unauthorized firing by the president because the chain of command for the position rests only with the librarian of Congress (who is authorized to appoint the registrar to a maximum term of ten years). Although the Senate never voted to make a change regarding this, in April 2017, the House of Representatives had voted to propose changing the register of ropyrights to a position that is filled by presidential appointment with Senate confirmation. That never was voted upon by the Senate, so the existing policy remains as has been in place since the establishment of the Copyright Office.

On September 10, 2025, a divided three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that Perlmutter is entitled to continue to serve as the register of copyrights at the Library of Congress, despite the White House's claim that Trump had fired her, "because Perlmutter leads an agency that is housed in the legislative branch and her primary role is to advise Congress."

List of registers of copyrights

The following persons have served as the register of copyrights:

No.	Image	Registers	Start of term	End of term	Length of term	Refs
1		Thorvald Solberg	July 1, 1897	April 21, 1930	11,961 days
Acting		William Lincoln Brown	April 22, 1930	June 4, 1934	1,505 days
2			June 4, 1934	July 1, 1936	759 days
3		Clement Lincoln Bouvé	August 1, 1936	December 31, 1943	2,699 days
Acting		Richard Crosby De Wolf	January 1, 1944	February 1, 1945	398 days
4		Sam Bass Warner	February 1, 1945	May 28, 1951	2,308 days
Acting		Arthur Fisher	May 28, 1951	September 12, 1951	108 days
5			September 12, 1951	November 12, 1960	3,350 days
Acting		Abraham L. Kaminstein	November 13, 1960	December 23, 1960	41 days
6			December 24, 1960	August 31, 1971	3,903 days
7		George D. Cary	September 1, 1971	March 9, 1973	556 days
Acting		Abe Goldman	March 10, 1973	November 19, 1973	255 days
8		Barbara Ringer	November 19, 1973	May 30, 1980	2,385 days
9		David Ladd	June 2, 1980	January 2, 1985	1,676 days
Acting		Donald Curran	January 3, 1985	September 10, 1985	251 days
10		Ralph Oman	September 23, 1985	January 8, 1994	3,031 days
Acting		Barbara Ringer	November 27, 1993	August 6, 1994	253 days
11		Marybeth Peters	August 7, 1994	December 31, 2010	5,991 days
Acting		Maria Pallante	January 1, 2011	May 31, 2011	151 days
12			June 1, 2011	October 21, 2016	1,970 days
Acting		Karyn Temple	October 21, 2016	March 26, 2019	887 days
13			March 27, 2019	January 4, 2020	284 days
Acting		Maria Strong	January 5, 2020	October 24, 2020	294 days
14		Shira Perlmutter	October 25, 2020	May 10, 2025	1,807 days

Table notes:

1. Died in office
2. First female Register. Ringer brought a sex discrimination suit that resulted in her being named to the position.
3. Legality of Perlmutter's dismissal by president is disputed

Sources

• "Congressional Testimony by Register of Copyrights". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved August 30, 2008.
• "Registers of Copyrights". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
• United States Code. 17 U.S.C. § 701.