# 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.
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 October 2020, the position is held by Shira Perlmutter, who took office October 25, 2020.
On April 26, 2017, the House of Representatives voted in favor of a bill that, if approved by the Senate, will make Register of Copyrights a position that is filled by presidential appointment with Senate confirmation, rather than appointed by the Librarian of Congress—a policy that has been in place since the establishment of the Copyright Office, and impose a maximum term of 10 years. The bill has been supported by the entertainment industry and other groups (including the MPAA and RIAA), as the new selection procedure would give them the opportunity to lobby for a Register of Copyrights that aligns with their interests in stronger copyright protection. These effects have been the basis of opposition towards the bill by politicians, and groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Public Knowledge, which feel that the bill would give corporate stakeholders a higher level of influence over U.S. copyright policies, rather than balancing the laws to meet the needs of the public.

## List of registers of copyrights

| No. | Name | Start of term | End of term | Length of term | Notes |
| 1 | Thorvald Solberg | July 22, 1897 | April 21, 1930 | 11,961 days | Longest serving Register (32 years, 9 months) |
| 2 | William Lincoln Brown | June 4, 1934 | July 1, 1936 | 759 days | |
| 3 | Clement Lincoln Bouvé | August 1, 1936 | December 31, 1943 | 2,699 days | |
| – | Richard Crosby De Wolf | January 1, 1944 | February 1, 1945 | 398 days | First acting Register |
| 4 | Sam Bass Warner | February 1, 1945 | May 28, 1951 | 2,308 days | |
| – | Arthur Fisher | May 28, 1951 | September 12, 1951 | 108 days | First acting Register to go on to assume the official role Shortest term as acting Register (3 months, 9 days) |
| 5 | Arthur Fisher | September 12, 1951 | November 12, 1960 | 3,350 days | |
| 6 | Abraham L. Kaminstein | December 24, 1960 | August 31, 1971 | 3,903 days | |
| 7 | George D. Cary | September 1, 1971 | March 9, 1973 | 556 days | |
| – | Abe Goldman | March 10, 1973 | November 19, 1973 | 255 days | Acting Register |
| 8 | Barbara Ringer | November 19, 1973 | May 30, 1980 | 2,385 days | First female Register. Ringer brought a sex discrimination suit that resulted in her being named to the position. |
| 9 | David Ladd | June 2, 1980 | January 2, 1985 | 1,676 days | The only person to head both the U.S. Copyright Office and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (then the U.S. Patent Office). Prior to becoming Register of Copyrights, Ladd served as the U.S. Commissioner of Patents from 1961 to 1963. |
| – | Donald Curran | January 3, 1985 | September 10, 1985 | 251 days | Acting Register |
| 10 | Ralph Oman | September 23, 1985 | January 8, 1994 | 3,031 days | |
| – | Barbara Ringer | November 27, 1993 | August 6, 1994 | 253 days | Only former Register to return to service as acting Register |
| 11 | Marybeth Peters | August 7, 1994 | December 31, 2010 | 5,991 days | |
| – | Maria Pallante | January 1, 2011 | May 31, 2011 | 151 days | Acting Register |
| 12 | Maria Pallante | June 1, 2011 | October 21, 2016 | 1,970 days | |
| – | Karyn Temple | October 21, 2016 | March 26, 2019 | 887 days | Longest serving acting Register (2 years, 5 months, 6 days) |
| 13 | Karyn Temple | March 27, 2019 | January 4, 2020 | 284 days | Shortest-serving Register (9 months, 8 days) |
| – | Maria Strong | January 5, 2020 | October 24, 2020 | 294 days | Acting Register |
| 14 | Shira Perlmutter | October 25, 2020 | incumbent | 1,528 days (to date) | |