SIXTY-NINTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE REGISTER OF COPYR1GHT.S FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1966 COPYRIGHT OFFICE THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS IL.C. Card No. 10-36017 This report is reprinted from the Annual Report of the Libdnof Congreee for the fiscal year ending June 30,1966 Contents THECOPYRIGHT OFFICE ............................ 1 The Year's Copyright Business ......................... 2 Official publications .............................. 4 Copyright Contributions to the Library of Congress ................ 4 Administrative Developments ........................... 4 Problems of Registrability ........................... 5 Organizational Problems ............................ 5 Notices of Intention To Use ...................... : ... 5 Legislative Developments ............................ 6 Judicial Developments ..............................8 Performing Rights and Community Antenna Systems ............... 8 Rights of Exhibition and Copying ....................... 10 Author's "Moral Right" ........................... 11 Subject Matter of Copyright ......................... 13 Publication ................................. 16 Notice of Copyright ............................. 17 Copyright Registration ............................ 19 Ownership. Assignment. and Renewal of Copyright ............... 21 Infringement and Remedies .........................23 Other Judicial Developments .........................26 International Developments .......................... 28 Tables: International Copyright Relations of the United States as of December 31. 1966 ... 29 Registrations by Subject Matter Classes .................... 31 Schedule of Copyright Fees .......................... 32 Number of Articles Deposited .......................... 32 Number of Articles Transferred to Other Departments of the Library of Congress . 33 Statement of Gross Cash Receipts. Yearly Fees. Number of Registrations. etc ..... 33 .mmary of Copyright Business. Fiscal Year 1966 ................ 34 .ications of the Copyright Office ....................... 35 During consideration of the copyright revision bill Subcommittee No. 3 of the House Judiciary Committee met with Library oficials on February 24, 1966, in the Library's Wilson Room. Sitting, left to right: Abraham L. Kaminstein, Register of Copyrights; Representative Henry P. Smith Ill; Representative Richard H. Poff; Representative Robert W. Kastenmeier, acting chairman of the subcommittee; Representative Herbert Tenzer; and L. Quincy Mumford, Librarian of Congress. Standjng, left to right: George D. Cary, Deputy Register of Copyrights; A. A. Goldman, Copyright Ofice General Counsel; Allan D. Cors, Committee Counsel; John G. Lorenz, Deputy Librarian of Congress; Herbert Fuchs, Committee Counsel; and Barbara A. Ringer, Assistant Register of Copyrights. The Copyright Office Report to the Librarian of Congress by the Register of Copyrights HE CURRENT PROGRAM for general re- hearings was remarkably high. Conflicting vision of the copyright law made by positions were presented by the witnesses in a Tfar the greatest progress of its 11-year reasonable and constructive way, and their history during fiscal 1966. As the year be- statements were intelligent, germane, and un- gan, hearings on the copyright revision bill emotional. Nearly all expressed general ap- of 1965 (H.R. 4347, H.R. 5680, H.R. 6831, proval of the revision program and the bill and H.R. 6835, 89th Cong., 1st sess.) were itself and addressed their disagreements to under way before Subcommittee No. 3 of the specific provisions. The prevailing atmos- House Committee on the Judiciary. Between phere was reflected in the remarks of Repre- May 26, 1965, and September 2, 1965, a total sentative Richard H. Poff of Virginia, the of 22 days of public hearings were held with ranking minority member on the subcommit- 163 witnesses representing the widest spectrum tee, who said on the closing day of the of public and private interest in the emerging hearings : legislation presenting testimony. The massive record of these hearings ran to 1,930 pages Mr. Chairman, I am in my 13th year in the of printed text and included, in addition to Congress, and during the course of that time I the oral transcript, more than 150 written have been privileged to participate in many con- gressional investigations and hearings, some of which statements. have lasted for as long as 2 years. But I can say The yean of careful preparation that had candidly and honestly that this has been the most gone into the drafting of the bill paid sub- objective, and instructive, and constructive of any stantial dividends as the hearings progressed. hearing in which I have participated. One witness echoed the sentiments of many I think we are deeply indebted to all of the wit- of his fellows when he stated in his testimony: nesses who have approached their advocacy without ranoor and bitterness . I do say that it has There has been no such comparable preparation for been most inspiring and stimulating to me, and I legislation in the history of world copyright-and would press the point only that all congressional I have in mind major countries long sophisticated hearings could be so dispassionate, and learned, and in this field . I recall no such prior pre- so free of partisan bitterness. liminary preparations for the extensive 1932 and 1936 Congressional hearings on general revision in After the public hearings the Copyright Of- which I took an active part. fice helped the committee counsel edit the transcript. To make the huge printed record Although there were, to be sure, sharp con- more manageable and useful to the subcom- flicts on some of the major issues presented mittee and the public, the Office prepared, by the bill, the level of the testimony at the with assistance from the Library's Data Proc- 2 REPORT OF THE REGISTER OF COPYRIGHTS, 1 9 6 6 essing Office in planning and programing hearings and the executive sessions was a the project on the computer, a complete sub- model of dedicated public service and states- ject and name index. This was the Copy- manship. An editorial in the August 23, right Office's first real experience in using 1965, issue of Publishers' Weekly summed up computer technology. The staff also pre- the prevailing sentiment when it said: "It's pared summaries of every statement, argu- a committee which can restore one's faith in ment, and proposal that had been made. the process of representative democratic gov- Working closely with the committee coun- ernment." sel, the Office then divided tfre entire corpus The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee, under of the hearings into 10 general areas: sub- the chairmanship of Senator John L. Mc- ject matter,of copyright, ownership, duration, Clellan of Arkansas, opened hearings on the notice and registration, manufacturing and revision bill in August 1965 but delayed re- importation requirements, community antenna suming them during the fiscal year, partly systems and other secondary transmissions, because of the intense copyright activity in jukebox performances, compulsory license for the House subcommittee. phonorecords, educational copying and fair On October 12, after the end of fiscal 1966, use, and educational broadcasting and other the full House Judiciary Committee reported performing rights. Each subject was then the bill as amended (H. Rept. 2237, 89th divided into subtopics and under each of these Cong., 2d sess.). It is hoped that the was listed every issue raised by the hearings. amended bill will be reintroduced and acted Thus, the subcommittee was able to consider upon in the 90th Congress, possibly before the them in context, to weight the arguments for end of calendar 1967. and against each one, and to arrive at decisions. Meeting usually twice a week from Febru- The Year's Copyright Business ary through September 1966, the House Judi- ciary Subcommittee held 51 executive sessions, Although it would be inconceivable for any many of them lasting 2 hours or more, which member of the operating divisions of the Copy- were attended by representatives of the Copy- right Office to regard fiscal year 1966 as a right Office. One unprecedented session, on relaxing one, statistics show that, for the first February 24, 1966, was held at the Library time in 14 years, the total number of registra- of Congress after the subcommittee toured the tions actually decreased. As compared with Copyright Office and was greeted by the Li- 293,617 registrations in all classes of material brarian and Deputy Librarian. in fiscal 1965, the 1966 total was 286,866, an Examining each issue and then redrafting overall decrease of 2.3 percent. With the ex- the pertinent section of the bill, the committee ception of books, lectures, prints, and re- maintained an informal, bipartisan atmos- newals, each of which increased, registration~ phere in its executive sessions. The members declined throughout the whole range of copy- deserve the gratitude not only of those in- rightable material. terested in copyright law revision but also of Foreign registrations increased by nearly 2 the public at large for their enthusiasm, in- percent, and renewals, which follo\v a differ- tellectual commitment, and hard work on a ent statistical pattern from other classes of bill that will have lasting value for generations material, gained by over 8 percent despite a to come. A special appreciation should be 100-percent increase in renewal fees. The given to the acting chairinan of the subcom- number of copyright registrations for artistic mittee, Representative