The Librarian of Congress’s Appointment of Register of Copyrights—An Early History by John Y. Cole

Librarian of Congress Ainsworth Rand Spofford, anxious to build a collection worthy of a national institution, in 1870 persuaded Congress to centralize all U.S. copyright registration and deposit activities at the Library of Congress – which then occupied three rooms on the west side of the U.S. Capitol. Although essential to the growth and prestige of the Library, copyright deposit also created serious space problems; Spofford cried for Congressional help almost immediately, launching in his 1871 annual report a 15-year campaign for a new and separate building. By 1877 more than 70,000 books were piled on the floor and the Librarian was slowly submerging among the mountains of books, maps, music, prints, and photographs brought in by the new law. The building was finally authorized in 1886. A decade later, in 1896 and still a year before the new structure's opening in late 1897, Spofford reported that his additional (informal) duties as register of copyrights required 75% of his time and the all available time of the 26 of the Library's 42 employees.

In the Library's appropriation for fiscal 1898 (approved Feb. 19, 1897), as strongly urged by Spofford, Congress created a separate position of register of copyrights. It was part of a larger reorganization and expansion that became effective on July 1, 1897, the beginning of the new fiscal year. The register would "serve under the direction and supervision" of the Librarian, a natural evolution since the two positions were so closely intertwined administratively. "Moreover, the new law greatly strengthened the Office of the Librarian, granting the Librarian (instead of the Joint Library Committee) full authority and responsibility for administering the institution."

Through the same law, for the first time the President's appointment of a Librarian of Congress had to be approved by the U.S. Senate. On June 30, 1897, President McKinley nominated journalist and former diplomat John Russell Young to be Librarian of Congress. He was confirmed the same day by the Senate and on July 1 Librarian Young appointed the 72-year old Spofford as Chief Assistant Librarian.

The leading candidate to become the first register of copyrights was Thorvald Solberg a Boston book dealer who had worked at the Library from 1876 until 1889, mostly dealing with copyright registration matters. He was interviewed by President McKinley and appointed to the position by Librarian Young on July 22, 1897. Solberg did not retire until April 22, 1930, and all subsequent registers have been appointed by the Library of Congress.