A modernized office boosts growth and reduces litigation.

Economic Benefits of Modernization. A properly modernized Copyright Office can also offer substantial financial and economic benefits that offset and justify the initial capital investment.

One such benefit is the increased efficiency and reduced costs to users of the Copyright Office. Whether as an applicant for registration or a user searching the database, modernized functions will provide for faster and easier filings, quicker agency responses, and more comprehensive, accurate, and relevant search results. All of these translate into reduced costs of regulatory compliance.

Further, comprehensive, and interoperable registration and recordation databases can become a go-to resource for would-be licensees to identify and locate authors and copyright owners and conduct transactions. This reduction of information costs will facilitate more marketplace activity. That improvement, in turn, will enhance utility in the marketplace, generating revenue to creators and copyright owners, facilitating new uses of copyrightable works, and enhancing the services available to consumers. And the additional revenue generated by these transactions will increase tax revenue without any increase in tax rates.

Additionally, by promoting lawful uses of copyrightable works a modernized Copyright Office can help reduce the incidence of infringement and corresponding litigation. All of these benefits accrue to creators, publishers, distributors, users, and consumers, thus fulfilling the constitutional vision of “promot[ing] the progress of Science and the Useful Arts….”131