Shira Perlmutter to Head U.S. Copyright Office

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced today that Shira Perlmutter, the Office’s Chief Policy Officer and Director for International Affairs, has been chosen by Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden to be the 14^th U.S. Register of Copyrights.

Maria Strong has been serving as Acting Register since January 2020, after former Register Karyn Temple left the position in December 2019. Temple had been promoted to Register in March 2019 following two and a half years serving as Acting Register. Maria Pallante, the 12^th Register of Copyrights, had been fired from the position in 2016.

Prior to her position at the USPTO, which she held for eight years, Perlmutter served as executive vice president for global legal policy at the International Federation of Phonographic Industry, and before that as vice president and associate general counsel for IP policy at Time Warner, Inc. In her role with the USPTO, she contributed to domestic and international IP policy development, represented the United States in negotiations at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), oversaw the USPTO’s economic research, international education and IP attaché programs, and managed the USPTO’s work with the United States Trade Representative on matters involving IP and trade, according to a USPTO press release. UPSTO Director Adrei Iancu said Hayden made “an outstanding choice”. He added:

I and the entire USPTO team congratulate Shira and wish her much success in her new and critically important role. As one of the nation’s most preeminent copyright experts, Shira is extremely well qualified to lead the Copyright Office. I look forward to working with her and continuing the USPTO’s longstanding and close collaboration with the Copyright Office.

Iancu added that the Office plans to appoint an acting director to lead the Office of Policy and International Affairs in the coming days, and will soon publish a timeline for appointing a permanent replacement.