Copyright Alliance Applauds House Judiciary Committee for Prompt and Decisive Passage of the 'Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act' (H.R. 1695)

Bill would make selection process more effective and transparent and is critical to modernization of the U.S. Copyright OfficeWashington, D.C. – March 29, 2017  – The Copyright Alliance applauded today’s approval of the Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act (H.R. 1695), which was passed by the House Judiciary Committee, as amended, by an overwhelming majority of 27-1.According to Copyright Alliance CEO Keith Kupferschmid, “we commend Chairman Goodlatte, Ranking Member Conyers, and all who demonstrated vigorous and expeditious backing for this important piece of legislation, enabling it to be passed through committee with tremendous bipartisan support.”“The Register of Copyrights is an extremely important position to the U.S. economy, creativity and culture, which should be acknowledged by making the role a presidential appointee subject to Senate confirmation – just as the head of the Patent and Trademark Office and so many other senior government officials are,” Kupferschmid continued.“Making the Register a presidential appointee as provided in H.R.1695 will not only make the selection process more effective and transparent but it’s also critical to the continued modernization of the U.S. Copyright Office. The bill enjoys widespread bipartisan support and little opposition because of the narrow and modest approach taken and the tremendous support for a more transparent process for selecting the next Register of Copyrights. We look forward to continued support for this legislation and to its passage by the House in the near future.” said Kupferschmid.**DMLA, along with the Coalition of Visual Artists, was very active in backing this legislation.  Read here