WThe 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.
WRalph Oman is an American lawyer and former Register of Copyrights. He is currently the Pravel, Hewitt, Kimball and Kreiger Professorial Lecturer in Intellectual Property and Patent Law at The George Washington University Law School.
WMaria A. Pallante is the president and chief executive officer of the Association of American Publishers, a publishing industry trade association. Pallante is an American attorney who previously served as the 12th United States Register of Copyrights. She was appointed Acting Register effective January 1, 2011, succeeding Marybeth Peters, who retired effective December 31, 2010. On June 1, 2011, she was appointed to the position which was intended to be permanent.
WShira Perlmutter is a lawyer and law professor and the 14th Register of Copyrights. Perlmutter has given public lectures on copyright, stating that Americans desire copyright laws that make sense, that are fair, and that reflect the technologies currently in use. She has stated a desire for laws that keep pace with technology.
WMarybeth Peters is an American attorney who served as the 11th United States Register of Copyrights from August 7, 1994 to December 31, 2010. Prior to serving as register, Peters held the positions of Policy Planning Adviser to the Register, Acting General Counsel of the Copyright Office and as chief of both the Examining Division and the Information and Reference Divisions. In addition to over 40 years of service to the Copyright Office, Peters served as a consultant on copyright law to the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva, Switzerland (1989–1990). She obtained her B.S. degree from Rhode Island College in 1961 and her J.D., with honors, from The George Washington University Law School in 1971.
WBarbara Ringer was one of the lead architects of the 1976 Copyright Act. She spent much of her career lobbying Congress and drafting legislation that overhauled the 1909 Copyright Act. Ringer was also the first woman to serve as the Register of Copyrights in the United States Copyright Office. During her three decades with the United States Copyright Office, Ringer gained a reputation as an authority on copyright law.
WThorvald Solberg was the first Register of Copyrights (1897–1930) in the United States Copyright Office. He was a noted authority on copyright and played an instrumental role in shaping the Copyright Act of 1909.
WMaria Strong is the Acting Register of Copyrights, heading the United States Copyright Office.
WKaryn A. Temple is an attorney who served as the 13th United States Register of Copyrights, appointed to the position on March 27, 2019. Temple was Acting Register of Copyrights from October 21, 2016 to March 26, 2019, when Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden promoted her to Register of Copyrights and Director of the United States Copyright Office. She announced her resignation on December 9, 2019, effective January 3, 2020.