Administration Releases 2013 Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement
Issue No. 507 - June 20, 2013


The Copyright Office congratulates the Office of the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator on today's release of the 2013 Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement. The Office agrees with the Administration that effective enforcement is critical to providing meaningful protection of intellectual property rights.


As noted in the plan, the Copyright Office is actively pursuing a comprehensive study of the challenges faced by creators in pursuing small copyright claims due to the burden and expense of traditional federal litigation. The Office will issue its report and recommendations to Congress in October.


The Office also agrees that better access to copyright ownership information is an essential part of the 21st century copyright landscape. In October 2011 we began a comprehensive evaluation of our electronic processing capabilities as the first step in evolving the Office's services, and the data we make available to the public, to facilitate licensing arrangements and, as the plan notes, lawful, smooth and efficient access to creative expression.


Finally, the Office looks forward to working with our colleagues in the Administration to publish and maintain an index of major fair use decisions to help authors and others better understand the contours of that doctrine.


The full strategic plan is available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/IPEC/2013-us-ipec-joint-strategic-plan.pdf.