Archive for June 2007 (13 posts)

The 'Wright' Cop on the Copyright Beat

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Cop E. Wright

In this age of downloadable, linkable and cut-and-pasteable everything, it seems that kids are being exposed to copyright issues at younger and younger ages. So what better time than the present to begin educating them?

That is the thought behind a new feature on our Web site (the U.S. Copyright Office is part of the Library of Congress) called ?Taking the Mystery Out of Copyright.? A group of anime-looking characters led by ?Detective Cop E. Wright? talk about copyright matters in a way that?s geared toward young people, with links back to more detailed information. (Even the music, which is vaguely evocative of a Quinn Martin production, is original and thus copyright-friendly.)

And if you?re curious whether my own pilfering of the image of Detective Wright for this post itself constitutes copyright infringement, never fear: Works produced by federal employees in the performance of their jobs are in the public domain. As Cliff Clavin would say, ?It?s a little-known fact!?

A Few Programming Notes

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The next several days are busy ones for the Library of Congress regarding our national television profile. First, the Library was featured prominently last night in the season premiere of ?History Detectives? on PBS. Our vast resources and preservation experts were a key to solving some of the mysteries behind a 1913 poster for a […]

North Korea and Dear Leader: A Peek Inside

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The John W. Kluge Center is one of the Library of Congress’s more recently added gems. Since its founding in 2000 via a generous gift from the Center’s namesake, it has brought many of the world’s top intellects to the Library and offered them access to our unparalleled collections in order to do their work […]

Librarians To Converge on DC, LOC

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  The Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress, from the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog Members of the American Library Association ? at least 20,000 strong (from what I?m told) ? will be descending on Washington, D.C., starting later this week for their Annual Conference and Exhibition. While the bulk of the activities […]

Good Night, IRENE: Technology of Dreams

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IRENE does ?her? thing Everyone knows that ?a picture is worth a thousand words.? But did you know that it can also yield, oh, at least an hour or so of pleasant music? The Library of Congress?s Preservation Directorate and a number of partners are essentially ?inventing? a new preservation technology that could revolutionize efforts […]

A Grand Old Flag

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Among the family of patriotic holidays, Independence Day?s ?younger sibling? ? Flag Day ? arrives on the calendar roughly three weeks before we celebrate our nation?s birth. The June edition of the Library of Congress?s ?Wise Guide? launched today, just in time to salute the Stars and Stripes ? figuratively, if not literally. From the […]

Rep. Roskam Has Our Number

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The “Swamp” blog of the Chicago Tribune’s Washington, D.C., bureau reports on the favored tourist destinations of Rep. Peter Roskam: In keeping with Roskam’s fiscally conservative credentials (and, to be fair, the general spirit of tourist attractions in Washington), everything on the list is free to enter. Among the highlights, with Roskam’s commentary: No. 3, […]

'Democracy' Comes to the Library

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John Haynes of the Library of Congress?s Manuscript Division addresses guests in the Library?s Madison Hall as NED President Carl Gershman, right, listens. The blonde woman in the audience with her back to the camera is actress/activist Mia Farrow. (Photo by me.) Even in the midst of partisan squabbling for which Washington, D.C., has always […]