Re: Errors in USCO database

On Sun, 27 Oct 1996, Spectrum Press wrote:
>
> I would like to bring to the attention of this list the problem of
> the possibility of errors in the U.S. Copyright Office computerized
> database of copyright registrations.

I would be shocked to find that there were not errors in the Copyright Office database.

There are at least two sources of error: incorrect information being supplied to the Copyright Office, and correctly supplied information being erroneously entered by the Copyright Office employee. I do very little work with the Copyright Office, but my experience with the Patent and Trademark Office and its records shows that errors of both types are quite common. The most common example of PTO error seems to be misspelling of the inventors' names. The example of the user error that stands out in my mind is when the prosecuting attorney filled out the allowance sheet with the name of the original assignee, when the application had been reassigned while prosecution continued. The effect was that the patent issued with the incorrect name on the cover sheet. This type of error is most vexing, because the commercial databases (or at least Dialog) don't catch this, and rely on the cover sheet as though accurate.

I think errors in government databases are a fact of life, and the Copyright Office database is no exception.

--
Terry Carroll       | "In a professional sports league game played in the
Santa Clara, CA     | United States, the head referee ... shall ... in the
carroll[_at_]tjc.com     | event of conflicting calls, review instant replay to
Modell delenda est  | determine the correct call." - House Bill H.R. 3096