No-cost and in-kind contracting solve.

An additional and important consideration in any reform effort is the cost. The Copyright Office has undergone budget and staff cuts. Added to that, the desired modernization of the Office’s functions, particularly with regard to IT operations, can reasonably be anticipated to involve an up-front capital investment. Ironically, we do not have a reliable estimate of those costs because at present the Copyright Office lacks the authority even to study the matter. Nonetheless, this section will compare in broad-brush the costs and benefits of Copyright Office modernization.

To place the matter in context, general taxpayer funds account for only approximately one third of the of the Copyright Office’s annual budget, roughly $15 million. In comparison, there is a $1.1 trillion industry that is supported by the Copyright Office. That’s a return of over $73,000 per tax dollar spent. The Copyright Office may be the best value in the federal government.

An array of conservative, pro-small government organizations recognize this value proposition. Americans for Tax Reform sees the potential that “A modern Copyright Office will reduce friction in the over $1.1 trillion marketplace for copyrighted works, incentivize creativity, innovation investment and jobs….”127 The American Conservative Union demands that the Copyright Office be “brought into the 21st Century.” 128 And Citizens Against Government Waste agrees, “The twenty-first century needs a modern Copyright Office….”129

Keeping Costs Low. There are several elements than can be employed to help keep the costs of restructuring and modernization as low as possible.

As the Copyright Office moves out of the Library, the cost of services previously provided by the Library for operational elements, including human resources, facilities, and IT, will not be new expenses, the funding for those can simply be rolled over to the restructured Office. Logically, there may be some start-up costs as the new entity opens its doors, but these will be temporary. It is also worth noting that by virtue of the deposit copies supplied to the Library through the copyright system, the Copyright Office provides additional value not normally calculated in the federal budget process.

The restructured Copyright Office can also take steps to keep costs low. For example, no-cost contracting would allow private IT services to supply needed technology (e.g., in support of online recordation submission) which would be billed to the user, with no cost to the Copyright Office or the federal budget. Similarly, in-kind contracting would allow the Copyright Office to receive valuable services at no cost because of the value to the contractor of being the provider of those services. One might imagine a database management company taking on such a role.