Modified U.S. Copyright Office Provisional IT Modernization Plan

The U.S. Copyright Office has prepared a Modified U.S. Copyright Office Provisional IT Modernization Plan at the direction of the House Committee on Appropriations. See 163 Cong. Rec. H4033 (daily ed. May 3, 2017). The Committee directed the Register to modify the Provisional Information Technology Modernization Plan and Cost Analysis (Provisional IT Plan) published by the Office in 2016 to “include potential opportunities for shared efficiencies and cost-savings as well as ways the Library’s CIO Office can support the Copyright Office in its overall modernization efforts.”

The Modified IT Plan maintains the Office’s focus on creating an IT system that is robust and flexible enough to facilitate the work of Copyright Office not only as it exists now, but also as it may be in the future, and documents how this goal may be achieved under a shared services model. The Modified IT Plan further describes the progress that has been made on Copyright Office IT modernization to date and sets forth anticipated milestones and timelines for further work on this important task.

The Committee further charged the Office to “include any new funding strategies based on the comments received from the public regarding changes in fee structures.” See 163 Cong. Rec. H4033 (daily ed. May 3, 2017). The Modified IT Plan accordingly reiterates the Office’s belief in the importance of increased flexibility for the Office in the collection and application of fees, including potential adoption of innovative fee strategies such as subscription fees, differential fees, or additional fees for high-volume access to improved and modernized data.