Register of Copyrights Marybeth Peters has been presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Los Angeles Copyright Society.
The award was presented on March 11 at the organization's spring conference in Carlsbad, Calif., for which Peters delivered the keynote address.
Lincoln Bandlow, president of the Los Angeles Copyright Society, presents Register of Copyrights Marybeth Peters with a Lifetime Achievement Award. - Vince Cox
"I am grateful to the society for recognizing me with this prestigious award," said Peters. "I am extremely fortunate to have a job I love in a magnificent institution with a talented and hardworking staff."
Speaking at the awards ceremony, Copyright General Counsel David Carson referred to Peters' ability to bring people together. "Marybeth has drawn the praise of congressional leaders in the field of intellectual property from both sides of the aisle, and from the House and Senate."
Peters, who recently celebrated 40 years of service in the Copyright Office, received written tributes on the occasion from Librarian of Congress James H. Billington, former and current members of Congress and key figures in the copyright community. She was recognized by Congress with the following remarks by Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-Mich.), which were entered into the Feb. 14, 2006, issue of the Congressional Record.
"I want to extend my thanks for Ms. Peters' leadership at the Copyright Office, which is a vital component of the Library of Congress. I want to extend deepest thanks on behalf of the Joint Committee on the Library to Ms. Peters for her stewardship of the Copyright Office as register and her long years of service to Congress and the American people."
Peters has served as U.S. Register of Copyrights since Aug. 7, 1994. She is the 11th person to hold that office since the appointment of Thorvald Solberg as the first register, in 1897. As register, she testifies before Congress and frequently speaks on copyright-related topics at conferences in the United States and abroad.
Prior to becoming register, Peters held the position of policy planning adviser to the register, was the acting general counsel of the Copyright Office and was chief of both the Copyright Examining Division and the Information and Reference Division. She served as a consultant on copyright law to the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, from 1989 to 1990.
Peters received an undergraduate degree from Rhode Island College and a law degree, with honors, from the George Washington University Law Center. She has served as a lecturer in the Communications Law Institute of Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law and as an adjunct professor of copyright law at the University of Miami School of Law and the Georgetown University Law Center.
Licensed to practice law as a member of the bar in the District of Columbia, she is a member of the Intellectual Property Section of the American Bar Association, a member of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia and a member of the Copyright Society of the U.S.A., the ALAI-USA (Association Litteraire et Artistique Internationale) and the Computer Law Association. She was recently made an honorary member of the Los Angeles Copyright Society, an organization of lawyers specializing in copyright, entertainment and communications law.
On Feb. 14, her federal service anniversary date, the District of Columbia Chapter of the Copyright Society of the U.S.A. honored her with a luncheon at the Washington law offices of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. Guests included members and former members of Congress.
