Copyright Office Coup: What It Means, And Why It Matters

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U.S. Register of Copyrights Maria Pallante was the country’s top copyright official, and her sudden removal last week could suggest a more skeptical view of the value of intellectual property in Washington DC. “People I know who care about copyright are very disturbed,” says Marybeth Peters, Pallante’s predecessor as Register. “Nothing like this has ever happened there before.”  The Copyright Office, which is part of the Library of Congress, sets some policies, oversees registrations of works, and advises Congress on legislation. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), respectively the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, which has responsibility for copyright issues, issued a statement that Pallante’s departure would be “a tremendous loss for the Copyright Office and for America’s creators, innovators, and users of copyrighted works.”