Copyright registrations for 1951
Selected copyright registrations from 1951 are available from
this page. Registrations were classified by category, with renewals
included in the same volume as original registration in most cases.
The following types of records are available here:
- Books and Contributions to periodicals (49,936 original registrations; 3,208 renewals)
- Renewals for Periodicals (10 catalog pages)
- Drama and Works Prepared for Oral Delivery (4,549 original registrations; 467 renewals)
- Music (49,457 original registrations)
- Maps and atlases (2,158 original registrations; 572 renewals)
- Renewals for Artwork and photographs (198 renewals)
- Renewals for Commercial prints and labels (4 catalog pages)
- Motion pictures and filmstrips (2,808 original registrations; 279 renewals)
A guide to abbreviations used in the records
is now available, as are partial registration
statistics by category.
1951 original copyrights were due to be renewed in
1978 and 1979 (see the Copyright Office database for most registrations for these years.)
Original copyrights for 1951 renewals date
from 1923 and 1924. 1923
copyrights could
also be renewed in 1950, and 1924
copyrights could also be renewed in 1952.
Philip Harper has
transcribed the renewal records for 1923 and 1924 copyrights, in
many of the categories that we provide below,
into textual form. You can find them at
this site.
To see if a book can go online, you may have to check
not only the "Books" category, but also the "contributions
to periodicals" and "periodicals"
categories, if parts of the book first appeared in a periodical,
and the "artwork" category if you want to scan any of the
illustrations. If the book is a play, or a set of lectures or addresses,
check the "Drama and Works Prepared for Oral Delivery" category too.
Not yet available online are original registrations for periodicals,
artwork, and commercial prints;
and renewals for music. Please let us know if you have or find any
of these online.
Books and Contributions to periodicals: Original registrations and renewals
We currently list the original volumes for
Part 1A (Books) and Part 1B (Pamphlets, Serials, and Contributions to Periodicals). These were published semiannually, and included both original
and renewal registrations.
Renewals for Periodicals
The following page images are available (all GIFs):
- Part 1 (January - June):
- Page 155 (A - Detective Story Magazine (start))
- Page 156 (Detective Story Magazine (cont.) - National)
- Page 157 (New York Herald - New York Tribune (start))
- Page 158 (New York Tribune (cont.) - Southeastern)
- Page 159 (Southern - Western)
- Part 2 (July - December):
- Page 303 (A - Complete Story Magazine (start))
- Page 304 (Complete Story Magazine (cont.) - Journal)
- Page 305 (Ladies' - New York Times Book Review (start))
- Page 306 (New York Times Book Review (cont.) - Rockefeller)
- Page 307 (Saint - Western)
Drama: Original registrations and renewals
The volumes for
Parts 3-4 (Drama and Works Prepared for Oral Delivery) were published semiannually, and included both original and renewal registrations.
Music: Original registrations
We currently list the original volumes for Parts 5A (Published Music)
and 5B (Unpublished Music) for 1951. These volumes did not include
renewals. Please let us know if you find renewal volumes.
Maps: Original registrations and renewals
The volumes for
part 6 (Maps and Atlases) were published semiannually, and included both original
and renewal registrations.
Renewals for Artwork
The following page images are available (all GIFs):
- Part 1 (January - June):
- Part 2 (July - December):
- Page 231 (A - Chase Brass And Copper Company: Soft)
- Page 232 (Chase Brass And Copper Company: Standing - Neubecker, William: Finishing Eave)
- Page 233 (Neubecker, William: Finishing Standing - Zimmerman)
Renewals for Commercial Prints
The following page images are available (all PDFs):
Motion pictures and filmstrips: Original registrations and renewals
The volumes for
Parts 12 and 13 (Motion Pictures and Filmstrips) were published semiannually, and included both original and renewal registrations.
The images above were scanned by Google, and
by the Universal Library,
Dianne Bean, John Mark Ockerbloom, and Mary Mark Ockerbloom
from simple photocopies of bound volumes at the Carnegie Library of
Pittsburgh, and from microfilms provided by the Free Library of Philadelphia.
If you would like to contribute better copies, or registrations that
we don't yet list for 1951, email
onlinebooks@pobox.upenn.edu.
(Please don't send any files by email unless I ask for them!)
