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The Maryland Office of People`s Counsel (OPC), created in 1924, is the oldest utility consumer advocacy office of its kind in the United States. The People`s Counsel is appointed by the Attorney General, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and acts independently of the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) and the Office of Attorney General. OPC is a State of Maryland agency, yet works independently to represent Maryland`s residential consumers of electric, natural gas, telecommunications, private water and certain transportation matters before the PSC, federal regulatory agencies and the courts. Every day OPC`s staff members address issues affecting the cost, quality of service and adequate supply of these utility services. As such OPC`s advocacy touches the lives of every resident of Maryland. OPC functions primarily as a law office, employing a staff of 19, and retains expert consultants to provide technical assistance and expert testimony. These consultants are highly qualified accounting, engineering and economic experts who provide technical assistance, prepare reports and appear as expert witnesses before the PSC and federal agencies. These experts are absolutely critical to OPC`s ability to represent consumers. Because it is a state agency, funding for OPC is included in the state budget proposed by the Governor and approved by the General Assembly. However, the State`s General Fund is fully reimbursed for OPC`s expenses from revenue collected in the Public Utility Regulation Fund. These revenues are collected from all regulated utility companies and licensed energy suppliers.
The United States Copyright Office, and the position of Register of Copyrights, were created by Congress in 1897. The Register directs the Copyright Office as a separate federal department within the Library of Congress, under the general oversight of the Librarian, pursuant to specific statutory authorities set forth in the United States Copyright Act. Earlier in the Nation`s history, from 1870-1896, the Librarian of Congress administered copyright registration (at that time mostly books) directly, and earlier still, from 1790-1896, U.S. district courts were responsible for doing so. Today, the Copyright Office is responsible for administering a complex and dynamic set of laws, which include registration, the recordation of title and licenses, a number of statutory licensing provisions, and other aspects of the 1976 Copyright Act and the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act. By statute, the Register of Copyrights is the principal advisor to Congress on national and international copyright matters, testifying upon request and providing ongoing leadership and impartial expertise on copyright law and policy. Congress relies upon, and directs, the Copyright Office to provide critical law and policy services, including domestic and international policy analysis, legislative support for Congress, litigation support, assistance to courts and executive branch agencies, participation on U.S. delegations to international meetings, and public information and education programs. The past few years have been particularly active, as Copyright Office lawyers assisted Congress with more than twenty copyright review hearings and prepared numerous timely reports, including for example, The Making Available Right in the United States, Copyright and the Music Marketplace, Software-Enabled Consumer Products, and Orphan Works and Mass Digitization. As of early 2017, the Copyright Office has approximately 400 employees, the majority of whom examine and register hundreds of thousands of copyright claims in books, journals, music, movies, sound recordings, software, photographs, and other works of original authorship each year. In fiscal year 2016, the Office processed over 468,000 claims for registration, issued over 414,000 registrations, received 91percent of claims via our online application system, and collected $30 million in fees from registration. The Office also acts as a conduit for the Library, providing certain works of authorship, known as copyright deposits, to the Library for its collections. In fiscal year 2016, the Office forwarded more than 636,000 works, worth a net value of $35.6 million, to the Library. During calendar year 2016, the Office collected over $244 million in royalty payments from compulsory and statutory licenses under sections 111, 119, and 1003. In recent years, the Office has taken steps, through a set of public discussions, to propose ways to modernize the Copyright Office by examining relationships between the law, regulations, registration practices, technology, access to data, and the evolving copyright marketplace. Finally, the Copyright Office works regularly with the Department of Justice, the Department of State, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Department of Commerce, including the Patent and Trademark Office, and the Office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator.
It`s time to remember who we are. We`re Americans: tough and resilient. We choose hope over fear. Science over fiction. Truth over lies. And unity over division. We treat each other with dignity, we leave nobody behind, and we give hate no safe harbor. We are the United States of America. And together, there is not a single thing we cannot do.
State of Ohio - ODJFS is one of the leading providers in Government. It is based in Columbus, OH. To find more information about State of Ohio - ODJFS, please visit www.jfs.ohio.gov.
Kheder Davis & Associates is a Lansing, MI-based company in the Government sector.