Copyright Education Site Aimed at Children

The U.S. Copyright Office announces a new kid-friendly website full of helpful information for parents and educators. Entitled "Taking the Mystery Out of Copyright"  the website is aimed at educating children on the importance of copyright.  Site features animated vingettes hosted by Detective Cop E. Wright, which explains how copyright protects the creator, an interactive question and answer section, and the history of copyright law.

For more information on this website or the U.S. Copyright Office visit www.copyright.gov.

Attend a STOP! Seminar

In addition to providing assistance via the STOP! Hotline at 1-866-999-HALT, and their websites www.stopfakes.gov and www.stopfakes.gov/smallbusiness, the Strategy for Targeting Organized Piracy is currently hosting public seminars nationwide.

Free one day seminars are sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. These public seminars are held nationwide as a means of educating business owners on how to protect their intellectual property.

On June 13, "The_Cost_of_Counterfeiting_and_Piracy" will be held in Raleigh, North Carolina.  This will be the first in a series of seminars to be held through out the summer months.  To register for the program in Raleigh click here. STOP! will speak on similar topics  when they visit Detroit, Michigan on June 18.  To register for the Detroit program visit the Detroit Regional Chamber website.

For more information on STOP! programs and to find out if a seminar will be hosted near you visit  www.stopfakes.gov.

The U.S. Copyright Office Needs You!

The U.S. Copyright Office is currently accepting applications for beta testers to submit copyright registration applications and deposits using their new web-based system, electronic Copyright Office (eCO).  By participating in the beta testing, volunteers will receive a reduced registration fee of $35.

Volunteers will be accepted on a first come first serve basis subject to the following criteria:

·        Type of work, e.g., literary work, musical composition, sound recording, etc.

·        Type of deposit copy, i.e., hard copy versus electronic copy

·        File format, e.g., mp3, jpeg, pdf, etc. (electronic deposit copies)

·        File size (electronic deposit copies)

·        Frequency of registration

·        Published versus unpublished works

·        Individual versus company/organization

• Type of payment

The Copyright Office anticipates their volunteer pool will begin with basic registration claims for literary works, visual arts works (including photographs), performing arts works, and sound recordings.  Later the testing will expand to other types of registration, including group registration for published photographs.

If you plan to register at least one claim in the coming months and would like to be considered for participation in eCO beta testing, click here to go to the Copyright Office website to complete an application.