U.S. Copyright Office Releases Application Cards in the Copyright Public Records System Pilot, Initial Release Provides Access to Over 240,000 Records

From the US Copyright Office, Library of Congress:

Two years after the introduction of the Copyright Public Records System (CPRS) pilot, the U.S. Copyright Office is proud to announce an initial release of over 240,000 application card records from the Historical Public Records (HPR) Copyright Card Catalog into the CPRS. These records come from the 1938–1945 period when applications for copyright were submitted on card stock and filed in the card catalog. These records include metadata from the cards, as well as the digitized card images. Records are searchable by registration number, title, author, claimant, and publisher. They are also sortable and filterable by date. As the Office continues its modernization journey, more records will be added on a regular basis.

Making these records more easily searchable online supports the Office’s goals of copyright for all and continuous development in making copyright records more available to the public. Other projects underway that support this goal include the online HPR Copyright Historical Records Books.

The public can access the new CPRS pilot at publicrecords.copyright.gov and provide feedback on their experience using the feedback link at the bottom of the page. For any questions or other comments, please email publicrecords@copyright.gov.

To learn more about the CPRS, watch previous copyright modernization webinars on the Copyright Office website or YouTube channel. The CPRS is also accompanied by a tutorial to assist new users.

Filed under: Libraries, News, Patrons and Users, Publishing