February 13, 2006 U. S. Copyright Office Welcomes Students During Copyright Awareness Week, March 6-10

The U.S. Copyright Office will host students at the Library of Congress in support of Copyright Awareness Week during the entire month of March. This nonpartisan project of the Copyright Society of the U.S.A. is designed to educate youth about the importance of copyright and encourage greater understanding of its role in society.

The Copyright Office was established at the Library of Congress by an act of Congress in 1870 to protect the written works of authors. The law has been expanded over the years to protect other creative works such as music, designs and recordings.

“Copyright law encourages creativity by giving authors protection for their music, poems, motion pictures and Web sites,” said Marybeth Peters, the U.S. Register of Copyrights. “Today’s technology allows our works to be posted on the Internet and made available instantaneously worldwide, but it also makes it easier for others to illicitly use our works, which underscores the need to be knowledgeable about copyright dos and don'ts. Copyright Awareness week focuses on educating the public about this important topic, and the Copyright Office is pleased to be a part of it.”

During the monthlong celebration of Copyright Awareness Week, students and teachers from across the country are invited to visit the Library’s James Madison Building to meet with copyright specialists. Students will learn about copyright as both users and creators. The orientation will include a tour of the Copyright Office exhibit, a brief history and overview of current copyright issues and a mini-workshop on how to register claims to creative works. The Copyright Office staff also will meet with students remotely via video conferencing.

For more information about copyright and the Copyright Office, visit www.copyright.gov. To arrange for a visit to the Copyright Office, teachers should contact Peter Vankevich, head of the Copyright Information Section, at (202) 707-0600 or pmva@loc.gov.

The Library of Congress is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution and the largest library in the world with more than 130 million items on approximately 530 miles of bookshelves.

The Library receives some 22,000 items each working day and adds approximately 10,000 items to the collections daily. As the home of the U.S. Copyright Office, the Library receives the majority of its collections through the copyright registration process.