ABSTRACT
Copyrights, patents, and trademarks are forms of intellectual property that Congress has been given constitutional authority to regulate. Copyrights grew out of the royal practice of granting patent monopolies. Congress enacted the first national copyright law in 1790, and registrations of copyrights were administered by the clerks of the federal district courts. The administration of copyrights moved to the Library of Congress in 1870 to be conducted under the direction of the Librarian of Congress, and in 1897 it became the Copyright Office, a separate Library of Congress department. Copyright literally means the "right to copy." Copyright is a privilege granted to producers of original works of authorship that grants them the exclusive right to their works in certain regards. Copyright protection begins at the point in time that authors produce the work. As new information technologies evolve, such as the Internet and the World Wide Web, protection of copyrights, trademarks, and patents becomes more difficult.
