History and Education
Timeline of Copyright Law
On May 31, 1790, the first copyright law is enacted under the new United States Constitution. The new law is relatively limited in scope, protecting books, maps, and charts for only 14 years. These works were registered in the United States District Courts.
Read the Timeline
Register’s Biographies
Thorvald Solberg took office as the first Register of Copyrights on July 1, 1897. He was interviewed by President McKinley and appointed by John Russell Young, the Librarian of Congress.
More Register Bios
Copyright Lore
One of the most famous sculptures ever registered, and perhaps the largest, is the Statue of Liberty, designed by French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. On August 31, 1876, the “Statue of American Independence,” as the Statue of Liberty was first named, was assigned registration number 9939-G.
More Copyright Lore
Copyright for Kids
Copyright protects books, movies, videogames, songs, photos, and more – it applies to any work of the human mind or imagination, even a child’s finger painting!
Come exploreHistory of Copyright Law
Historical Copyright LawPast Published Versions of The Copyright Law of the United States
Copyright Law Revision Studies
From 1955 to 1960 the Copyright Office conducted a program of studies of the Copyright Law and practices for Congress
Past Legislation (114th Congress and previous)
Previous Legislative Action and Developments from Congress related to Copyright
Copyright Testimony to Congress (prior to 2013)
Previous Legislative Action and Developments from Congress related to Copyright
Past Reports, Publications, and Announcements
Annual ReportsPast Annual Reports of the U.S. Copyright Office
Other Reports and Publications
Past Reports and Publications issues by the U.S. Copyright Office
NewsNet Archive
Archive of Past NewsNet articles and announcements
ML (Mailing List) Announcements
Past News articles and information related to Copyright published and sent through the Mailing List until 2003 with the introduction of NewsNet