[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 111 (Tuesday, July 11, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9652-S9653]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


   ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF COPYRIGHT IN THE LIBRARY OF 
                                CONGRESS

  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the 125th 
anniversary of the act of 1870 which established our first central 
national copyright registration and deposit system by bringing it into 
the Library of Congress. Last Saturday marked the anniversary of the 
act being signed into law and today Librarian of Congress James 
Billington and Register of Copyrights Marybeth Peters are hosting a 
program to honor the employees of the Copyright Office for the work 
they do both for our national copyright system and the Library.
  Article 1 of the Constitution grants Congress the power to ``promote 
Science * * *'', or knowledge, by granting authors, for a limited time, 
exclusive rights in their writings. The intent of the Framers was to 
increase the knowledge of the people by encouraging authors to create 
works. The first copyright law, enacted in 1790, reflected that purpose 
in its title: ``An act for the Encouragement of Learning * * * ''. The 
1790 act also established a system of copyright registration where a 
person wishing to register a work did so in the nearest Federal court 
and sent a copy of the work to the Secretary of State in the Nation's 
Capital.
  The registration statute changed somewhat after 1790, but it was not 
until 1870 that Congress passed legislation which established the 
Library of Congress as the first central agency which would both 
perform the copyright registration function and serve as the custodian 
of copyright deposits in the United States.
  The 1870 act allowed for a national system of copyright registration 
with improved efficiency for the Federal Government, for authors and 
artists, and for publishers. Works submitted for copyright registration 
were sent to one location and could be carefully recorded and 
cataloged. For the first time, a copy could be used as both a record of 
registration and as a resource available to future generations of 
Americans.
  In addition to strengthening our copyright registration system, the 
1870 act also ensured that the Library of Congress would be the 
recipient of the tremendous amount of material submitted for copyright 
registration. The 1870 act put the Library on a path to becoming the 
greatest repository of knowledge in the world. To this day, the Library 
relies on the works it receives through copyright.
  The Copyright Office, a part of the Library, provides Congress with 
nonpartisan analysis of copyright law and implements all aspects of 
this law. It 

[[Page S 9653]]
also serves as a valuable resource to the domestic and international 
copyright communities. The Office registers almost 600,000 works a 
year.
  Copyright has been a critical element of American creative and 
economic life since the beginning of our Nation. Today, our core 
copyright industries have become an increasingly important part of our 
national economy and a major area of our international trade 
relationships. We in the Congress must continually ensure that the 
basic principles of copyright remain applicable to a scientific and 
creative world in which technology changes very rapidly.
  I would like to join the Librarian and the Register in saluting the 
work of the Copyright Office and its staff on this day and in paying 
tribute to the important services they provide in keeping our copyright 
system strong and adaptive to change.

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