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March 23, 2017 | News Articles

Comment Of RIAA Chairman and CEO Cary Sherman On New Bill Ensuring Hill Approval of Register of Copyrights

Washington, D.C — The bipartisan leadership of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees today introduced the “Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act,” a bill which would make “important changes to the selection process for the head of the U.S. Copyright Office, known as the Register of Copyrights.  Specifically, the legislation requires the Register to be nominated by the President of the United States and subject to confirmation by the U.S. Senate.  It would also limit the Register to a ten year term which is renewable by another Presidential nomination and Senate confirmation.”  In a strong signal of the bipartisan, bicameral senior support for the legislation, the bill was introduced by the Chairman and Ranking Members of both committees:  House Judiciary Committee Chairman Goodlatte (R-Va.), Ranking Member John Conyers ( D-Mich), Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), and Senate Judiciary Committee Member Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.).  Below is the comment of Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) Chairman and CEO Cary Sherman.

“We agree with the respective leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees that the Register of Copyrights is an immensely important position both to creators and the economy.  Look no further than the fact that the copyright industries contribute more than $1.2 trillion to the U.S. economy. The appointment of the head of the United States Copyright Office should therefore be nominated by the President and subject to a thorough Senate confirmation process — just as the head of the Patent and Trademark Office is — to ensure that he or she is ready to serve as the guardian of the world’s most important copyright system.  This bill sets the course to do just that, and we fully support it.”