[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 37, Volume 1]
[Revised as of July 1, 2008]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 37CFR203.3]

[Page 588-590]
 
              TITLE 37--PATENTS, TRADEMARKS, AND COPYRIGHTS
 
                                CONGRESS
 
PART 203_FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT: POLICIES AND PROCEDURES--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 203.3  Organization.

    (a) In general. The Office of the Register exercises overall 
direction of the work of the Copyright Office, including

[[Page 589]]

work in conjunction with copyright legislation, litigation and 
promulgation of copyright regulations. The Office of the Register of 
Copyrights includes the legal, administrative, and automation staff.
    (b) The Copyright Office Chief of Operations has oversight of the 
operating divisions of the Copyright Office. The operating divisions 
are:
    (1) The Receipt, Analysis and Control Division, which receives 
incoming materials, dispatches outgoing materials and establishes 
control over fiscal accounts.
    (2) The Registration and Recordation Program, which examines all 
applications and material presented to the Copyright Office for 
registration of original and renewal copyright claims, and which 
determines whether the material deposited constitutes coyrightable 
subject matter and whether the other legal and formal requirements of 
title 17 have been met.
    (3) The Registration and Recordation Program, which prepares the 
bibliographic description of all copyrighted works registered in the 
Copyright Office, including the recording of legal facts of copyright 
pertaining to each work, in an on-line database in which copyright 
records can be searched; and which also examines and catalogs in an on-
line database documents submitted for recordation.
    (4) The Information and Records Division, which provides a national 
copyright information service through the Copyright Information Section, 
educates the public on the copyright law, issues and distributes 
information materials, responds to reference requests regarding 
copyright matters, prepares search reports based upon copyright records, 
certifies copies of legal documents concerned with copyright, and 
maintains liaison with the United States Customs Service, the Department 
of the Treasury, and the United States Postal Service on certain 
matters. The Information and Records Division also develops, services, 
stores, and preserves the official records and catalogs of the Copyright 
Office, including applications for registration, historical records, and 
materials deposited for copyright registration that are not selected by 
the Library of Congress for addition to its collections.
    (5) The Licensing Division, which implements the sections of the 
Copyright Act dealing with secondary transmissions of radio and 
television programs, compulsory licenses for making and distributing 
phonorecords of nondramatic musical, pictorial, graphic, and sculptural 
works in connection with noncommercial broadcasting. The Licensing 
Division is in charge of collecting the statutory royalties and 
distributing these royalties based on either a voluntary agreement among 
the interested parties or a determination of the Copyright Royalty 
Board.
    (c) The Copyright General Counsel is a principal legal officer of 
the Office. The General Counsel has overall supervisory responsibility 
for the legal staff and primary responsibility for providing liaison on 
legal matters between the Office and the Congress, the Department of 
Justice and other agencies of Government, the courts, the legal 
community, and a wide range of interests affected by the copyright law. 
The Copyright General Counsel has responsibility for overseeing all 
functions related to the administration of the compulsory licenses 
including oversight of the Copyright Royalty Board.
    (d) The Associate Register of Copyrights for International Affairs 
and Policy is a principal legal adviser to the Register with primary 
responsibility for the international aspects of copyright protection, as 
well as legislative and policy matters.
    (e) The Office has no field organization.
    (f) The Office is located in The James Madison Memorial Building of 
the Library of Congress, 1st and Independence Avenue, SE, Washington, 
DC. 20559-6000. The Public Information Office is located in Room LM-401. 
Its hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday except legal 
holidays. The phone number of the Public Information Office is (202) 
707-3000. Informational material regarding the copyright law, the 
registration process, fees, and related information about the Copyright 
Office and its functions may be obtained free of charge from the Public 
Information Office upon request.

[[Page 590]]

    (g) All Copyright Office forms may be obtained free of charge from 
the Public Information Office or by calling the Copyright Office Hotline 
anytime day or night at (202) 707-9100.
    (h) The Copyright Office maintains an ``electronic reading room'' by 
making available certain documents and records on its World Wide Web 
page and by providing access to documents that affect the public in 
electronic format pursuant to 5 USC 552(a)(2). Copyright Office records 
in machine-readable form cataloged from January 1, 1978, to the present, 
including registration information and recorded documents, are available 
on the Internet. Frequently requested Copyright Office circulars, 
announcements, and recently proposed as well as final regulations are 
available on-line. The address for the Copyright Office's home page is: 
http://www.loc.gov/copyright; information may also be accessed by 
connecting to the Library of Congress' home page on the World Wide Web. 
The address is: http://www.loc.gov. Other Copyright Office documents may 
be provided on disk when so requested.

[60 FR 34168, June 30, 1995, as amended at 62 FR 55742, Oct. 28, 1997; 
64 FR 36575, July 7, 1999; 65 FR 39819, June 28, 2000; 66 FR 34373, June 
28, 2001; 73 FR 37839, July 2, 2008]

                               Procedures