Maria A. Pallante (born February 5, 1964) is the president and chief executive officer of the Association of American Publishers, a publishing industry trade association. Pallante is an American attorney who previously served as the 12th United States
Register of Copyrights
The Register of Copyrights is the director of the United States Copyright Office within the Library of Congress, as provided by . The Office has been headed by a Register since 1897. The Register is appointed by, and responsible to, the Librarian ...
. She was appointed Acting Register effective January 1, 2011, succeeding
Marybeth Peters, who retired effective December 31, 2010. On June 1, 2011, she was appointed to the position which was intended to be permanent.
Prior to her appointment, Pallante had served in the
Copyright Office
The United States Copyright Office (USCO), a part of the Library of Congress, is a United States government body that maintains records of copyright registration, including a copyright catalog. It is used by copyright title searchers who are ...
as Associate Register for Policy and International Affairs (2008–2010); Deputy General Counsel (2007–2008); and Policy Advisor (1996–1997).
[
Pallante had been a resident of ]Westville, New Jersey
Westville is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Gloucester County, New Jersey, Gloucester County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census, the borough's population was 4,288,[< ...]
.
Aside from working for the Copyright Office, Pallante had been intellectual property counsel for the Guggenheim Museums
The Guggenheim Museums are a group of museums in different parts of the world established (or proposed to be established) by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation.
Museums in this group include:
Locations
Americas
* The Solomon R. Guggenh ...
(1999-2007),[ and Assistant Director of the Authors Guild (1991-1993).][
Shortly after becoming the Register of Copyrights, Pallante proposed an ambitious plan to reinvent and update copyright law and move the Copyright Office into the 21st century. In her paper, titled ''The Next Great Copyright Act'' she states in part "it is difficult to see how a twenty-first century copyright law could function well without a twenty-first century agency". In a letter to congressman John Conyers Jr. she said that the copyright office should no longer be part of the library, citing several concerns including "mounting operational tensions."
On October 21, 2016, Pallante was abruptly removed from her position. Librarian of Congress ]Carla Hayden
Carla Diane Hayden (born August 10, 1952) is an American librarian and the 14th Librarian of Congress. Since the creation of the office of the Librarian of Congress in 1802, Hayden is both the first African American and the first woman to hold th ...
said she had been appointed senior advisor for digital strategy, an appointment made without Pallante's prior knowledge. Rather than accept the position, Pallante submitted her resignation on October 24, 2016. Recording artist Don Henley said Pallante’s ouster was “an enormous blow” to artists, and that Pallante was "a champion of copyright and stood up for the creative community." Pallante was criticized by public interest groups for having supported controversial legislation such as the Stop Online Piracy Act
The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was a controversial proposed United States congressional bill to expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement to combat online copyright infringement and online trafficking in counterfeit goods. Introduced on O ...
, having objected to a proposal by the FCC to enable an open platform for television set-top boxes, based on consultation with the content industry, and the Office having spent $12 million over five years on a failed attempt to implement a new computer system at the Copyright Office.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pallante, Maria A.
George Washington University Law School alumni
Misericordia University alumni
People from Westville, New Jersey
Living people
1964 births
United States Registers of Copyright