Library of Congress Announces Copyright Public Modernization Committee

NISO Member News

Washington, DC | June 22, 2021

The Library of Congress announced today the membership of the new Copyright Public Modernization Committee (CPMC), which is being convened to enhance communication and provide a public forum for the technology-related aspects of the U.S. Copyright Office’s modernization initiative. The first CPMC meeting will be hosted by the Library on July 22, 2021.

As announced in the Federal Register in February 2021, the CPMC is being established by the Library to expand and enhance communication with external stakeholders on IT modernization of Copyright Office systems. Committee members were selected from a pool of applicants for their ability to represent a broad cross section of the copyright community and other interested groups. CPMC members will provide valuable input into the development of the new Enterprise Copyright System (ECS), which includes the Office’s registration, recordation, public records, and licensing IT applications, and will be encouraged to help spread awareness of the Library’s development efforts more broadly.

The committee will meet twice a year through 2024 to publicly share information and answer questions about the IT-related aspects of Copyright Office modernization. The members of the Copyright Public Modernization Committee are:

  • Todd Carpenter, National Information Standards Organization
  • Wahaj Chaudhry, Amazon.com
  • Susan Chertkof, Recording Industry Association of America
  • Brewster Kahle, Internet Archive
  • Roy Kaufman, Copyright Clearance Center
  • Keith Kupferschmid, Copyright Alliance
  • Melissa Levine, University of Michigan Library
  • Pamela Malpas, Association of American Literary Agents
  • Micah May, Digital Public Library of America
  • James Neal, Columbia University Librarian Emeritus, ALA, ACRL
  • Kathleen Rodriguez, Warner Media
  • Jeff Sedlik, Picture Licensing Universal System (PLUS) Coalition
  • Scott Weingart, Carnegie Mellon

The first public meeting of the CPMC will take place virtually on July 22 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. eastern time. Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter and Library of Congress chief information officer Bud Barton will provide opening remarks, and Library subject-matter experts will provide an update on the development of ECS and other modernization efforts. Attendees will have an opportunity to hear directly from CPMC members and participate in a live Q&A. The meeting will be recorded and made available for viewing after the event.

This virtual public forum is free and open to the public. Participants must register in advance to attend. Request ADA accommodations five business days in advance at (202) 707-6362 or ADA@loc.gov.

Last July, the Library hosted a public forum that provided a detailed overview of Copyright Office IT modernization. Video from that event can be viewed here. For more information about Copyright Office IT modernization visit the Copyright Office Modernization website at copyright.gov/copyright-modernization/.