The House of Representatives slipped a major rewrite of the U.S. Copyright Office into law last week. No hearings. No debate. Just a voice vote on H.R. 6028, the Legislative Branch Agencies Clarification Act. The bill now awaits Senate action. Its effects could ripple through creators, libraries, tech firms and everyday device owners for years.
Presented as routine housekeeping for legislative agencies, the measure severs the Copyright Office from its long-standing home inside the Library of Congress. It turns the Register of Copyrights into a presidential appointee subject to Senate confirmation. And it shifts key powers once held by the Librarian of Congress directly to that new Register. Critics call the changes a quiet power grab. Supporters see needed clarity in appointment procedures.
Quiet Passage Masks Sweeping Changes
Lawmakers acted with striking speed. The bill, introduced by Rep. H. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) in November 2025, moved through committee and onto the floor without public testimony or markup on its copyright provisions. A coalition of digital rights groups, libraries and consumer advocates had warned against fast-tracking it back in March. Their letter to the House Administration Committee went unanswered. Congress fast-tracked anyway.
The result? The Register gains authority over critical rulemaking. Exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s anti-circumvention rules under Section 1201 now rest with the Register instead of the Librarian. EFF has relied on those triennial proceedings for two decades to protect security research, device repair and archival work. Moving the process inside the Copyright Office itself risks tilting outcomes toward stricter enforcement. The office already leans toward content owners in many disputes. Independence from the Library’s broader cultural mandate only sharpens that tilt.
History offers context. The Copyright Office has sat within the Library of Congress since 1897. That placement kept copyright policy anchored in a institution devoted to public access, research and preservation. Librarians of Congress traditionally balanced industry demands against the needs of scholars, archivists and the public. Presidents appoint the Librarian, but day-to-day oversight stayed legislative. The new structure flips that balance. A 10-year term for the Register, renewable, adds further distance from congressional accountability while tying the role more tightly to executive priorities.
Recent events underscore the stakes. In 2025 the Trump administration attempted to install allies at the Library and Copyright Office, firing then-Register Shira Perlmutter in the process. Court rulings and congressional pushback followed. This bill appears, at least in part, as a legislative response to those clashes. It formalizes presidential appointment for the Register while handing librarian and Government Publishing Office roles to a bipartisan congressional commission. Yet the copyright-specific elements go further than mere clarification. They consolidate legal and regulatory power in one politically appointed official.
But the absence of scrutiny raises deeper questions. Copyright policy sits at the intersection of free speech, innovation and economic incentives. DMCA exemptions affect everything from tractor repair to medical device research to documentary filmmaking. Fair use determinations, though not directly altered here, occur in an environment shaped by the office’s views on infringement and liability. Shifting supervision away from an agency steeped in library science toward one more attuned to registration and enforcement could subtly reshape those views over time.
Industry voices have long pushed for an independent Copyright Office. Publishers and rights holders argued in past reform debates that the current setup creates conflicts and slows modernization. Some see presidential appointment as a way to elevate the Register’s profile and align the office with other executive intellectual property functions. Yet the rushed process left little room for those arguments to be tested against counterpoints from libraries or user advocates.
Public Knowledge condemned the move as surrendering the office to executive control after last year’s failed power grab. Their senior policy advocate warned of long-term consequences for balanced policy making. On X, digital rights accounts highlighted risks to security researchers and device owners. One post noted the bill’s knock-on effects for anyone who has repaired a product they own. Another called the voice vote a death blow to accountability.
The bill’s text, available on Congress.gov, confirms the structural shifts. It revises appointment and removal procedures across three agencies. For the Copyright Office the changes are most pronounced. Supervisory authority leaves the Library. Rulemaking powers transfer. The Register’s background must now include specific copyright law experience. These aren’t minor tweaks. They redraw lines of authority that have endured for well over a century.
Broader Implications for Policy and Innovation
Consider the practical fallout. Triennial DMCA reviews occur every three years. The next cycle could look very different under a presidentially appointed Register less insulated from industry lobbying. Libraries worry about diminished emphasis on preservation and access. Tech companies that rely on interoperability exceptions fear narrower exemptions. Even individual creators face an office potentially more focused on enforcement metrics than on easing registration burdens.
Separate proceedings at the Copyright Office on registration fees add another layer. Proposed increases and elimination of the single-application option drew sharp criticism from author groups in May 2026 comments. The Authors Guild and others argued the changes would discourage independent creators from registering at all. While not tied directly to H.R. 6028, the fee debate illustrates ongoing tensions over who the office serves. A more executive-oriented agency might prioritize revenue and compliance over accessibility.
Proponents in the House described the bill as a compromise that updates outdated processes and gained bipartisan backing. Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY), ranking member on the Administration Committee, supported it on the floor as a sensible clarification. Yet the copyright overhaul component received almost no public mention during passage. That silence speaks volumes. Technical corrections rarely provoke such coordinated warnings from groups as varied as the EFF, library associations and consumer advocates.
And the timing matters. With debates over artificial intelligence, online piracy and platform liability heating up, the office’s stance carries extra weight. Its reports and recommendations often shape legislation. An office more directly accountable to the White House could produce advice that aligns with whichever administration holds power. Stability suffers. Predictability for businesses and creators erodes.
Observers on both sides agree the current structure isn’t perfect. The Library’s dual role as supervisor and cultural institution creates friction. IT modernization has lagged. Yet abrupt, unexamined restructuring rarely improves complex institutions. Past reform efforts, including 2017 proposals, emphasized study and stakeholder input. This bill took the opposite path.
The Senate now holds the decision. Lawmakers there could insist on hearings, invite testimony from the current Register, librarians, creators, technologists and scholars. They could narrow the bill to appointment procedures alone and preserve the Library’s supervisory role. Or they could accept the House version and let the changes take effect. The choice will signal how seriously Congress takes its oversight of intellectual property policy.
Either way, the episode reveals a troubling pattern. Complex policy buried in must-pass packages. Voice votes that obscure accountability. Warnings from experts ignored until after the fact. Copyright touches every sector of the economy and every corner of culture. Treating its governing institutions as afterthoughts carries real risk. The public deserves better process. The creative industries and technology sector need more transparent governance. Whether the Senate delivers that remains to be seen.
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