C&RL News July/August 2019 412

S h a w n d a  H i n e s  i s  a s s i s t a n t  d i r e c t o r  o f 
communications, Public Polic y and Advocac y, at 
ALA’s Washington Office, email: shines@alawash.org

W a s h i n g t o n  H o t l i n eShawnda Hines

U.S. Copyright Office modernization 
efforts underway
College and academic libraries know full 
well the problems with orphan works, those 
titles for which the copyright holder cannot 
be found. Academic librarians seek to pre-
serve or digitize works in their collections to 
make them more accessible, but this can be 
challenging, even after an extensive search. 

Fortunately, the Library of Congress’s 
modernization initiative includes the Copy-
right Office and will 1) build a new enterprise 
copyright system featuring a user-centered 
and flexible design, 2) streamline processes 
and policies, 3) improve access, and 4) 
reimagine the entire Office. Modernization 
will improve all of the Office’s services, from 
registration to copyright renewals, which will 
make it easier to locate rights holders. 

A number of major efforts are underway, 
as summarized by the Copyright Office: 

• Enterprise Copyright System (ECS): 
The Office will develop a new enterprise 
copyright system that integrates and improves 
Office technology systems. This includes 
evaluating the current registration system and 
performing outreach to a cross section of us-
ers to improve the entire application process. 
Another improvement will be to modernize 
and automate recordation to simplify and 
improve how the Office records information 
on copyright ownership changes. 

• Business Process Reengineering: The 
Office will review its business processes and 
staff responsibilities, and recommend new 
methods and processes to reduce operational 
costs and improve efficiencies. 

• Comprehensive Access to Public 
Records: The Office will address all of its 
records, both those housed within legacy sys-
tems and historical records that are not easily 
accessible to the public online. The Office 
will convert its extensive, paper-based pre-
1978 entries into digital format and improve 
public access, enhance online search capa-
bilities, and continue preserving records. As 
part of this effort, the Office will continue its 
proof of concept for the Virtual Card Catalog 
(VCC), an online system to replace the cur-
rent onsite-only card catalog, and will allow 
users to access the Office’s historical records 
online with full-search capabilities—beyond 
just the VCC. 

• Outreach: The Office will engage and 
inform staff, industries that rely on Office 
services, and the public. 

• Data Management Initiative: The Office 
will analyze its data, including the types and 
location of the data. The Office will use this 
analysis to develop a data model that will 
allow the Office to use and work with data 
more easily and completely to the benefit of 
the Office and the public.

To learn more about the Copyright Of-
fice modernization efforts, visit copyright.
gov/copyright-modernization, where you 
can register to join—and even ask questions 
—in the Office’s next bimonthly webinar in 
a series focusing on various aspects of their 
modernization process and progress. 

mailto:shines%40alawash.org?subject=
https://www.copyright.gov/copyright-modernization/
https://www.copyright.gov/copyright-modernization/