Selected copyright registrations from 1952 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:
1952 original copyrights were due to be renewed in 1979 and 1980 (see the Copyright Office database for registrations for these years.) Original copyrights for 1952 renewals date from 1924 and 1925. 1924 copyrights could also be renewed in 1951, and 1925 copyrights could also be renewed in 1953.
Philip Harper has transcribed some of the renewal records for 1924 and 1925 copyrights 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 "periodicals" category, 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registrations for pamphlets, serials, contributions to periodicals, periodicals, artwork, commercial prints, and unpublished music; and renewals for music. Please let us know if you have or find any of these online.
| Copyright Registrations for Books, January-June 1952 | |
|---|---|
| Books published in the United States | 5,830 |
| Books in foreign languages published abroad | 1,959 |
| Books in the English language first published abroad | 629 |
| Total | 8,418 |
| Renewals: Class A except for contributions to periodicals | 1,329 |
| Copyright Registrations for Books, July-December 1952 | |
| Books published in the United States | 5,683 |
| Books in foreign languages published abroad | 1,878 |
| Books in the English language first published abroad | 810 |
| Total | 8,371 |
| Renewals: Class A except for contributions to periodicals | 1,291 |
| Copyright Registrations of Dramas and Works Prepared for Oral Delivery, January-June 1952 | |
| Class C: Lectures and other works prepared for oral delivery | 487 |
| Class D: Published dramatic and dramatico-musical works | 315 |
| Class D: Unpublished dramatic and dramatico-musical works | 1,623 |
| Total | 2,425 |
| Renewals, Class C | 0 |
| Renewals, Class D | 338 |
| Copyright Registrations of Dramas and Works Prepared for Oral Delivery, July-December 1952 | |
| Class C: Lectures and other works prepared for oral delivery | 433 |
| Class D: Published dramatic and dramatico-musical works | 342 |
| Class D: Unpublished dramatic and dramatico-musical works | 1,634 |
| Total | 2,409 |
| Renewals, Class C | 0 |
| Renewals, Class D | 299 |
| Copyright Registrations for Published Music, January-June 1952 | |
| Musical compositions published in the United States | 4.094 |
| Musical compositions published abroad | 3,768 |
| Total | 7,862 |
| Copyright Registrations for Published Music, July-December 1952 | |
| Musical compositions published in the United States | 4,425 |
| Musical compositions published abroad | 3,167 |
| Total | 7,592 |
| Copyright Registrations for Maps, January-June 1952 | |
| Class F: Maps published in the United States | 1,489 |
| Class F: Maps published outside the United States | 2 |
| Total | 1,491 |
| Renewals | 466 |
| Copyright Registrations for Maps, July-December 1952 | |
| Class F: Maps published in the United States | 1,432 |
| Class F: Maps published outside the United States | 3 |
| Total | 1,435 |
| Renewals | 8 |
| Copyright Registrations for Motion Pictures, January-June 1952 | |
| Class L: Published motion picture photoplays | 417 |
| Class L: Unpublished motion picture photoplays | 1 |
| Class M: Published motion pictures other than photoplays | 584 |
| Class M: Unpublished motion pictures other than photoplays | 100 |
| Total | 1,102 |
| Renewals: Classes L and M | 232 |
| Copyright Registrations for Motion Pictures, July-December 1952 | |
| Class L: Published motion picture photoplays | 390 |
| Class L: Unpublished motion picture photoplays | 4 |
| Class M: Published motion pictures other than photoplays | 605 |
| Class M: Unpublished motion pictures other than photoplays | 25 |
| Total | 1,024 |
| Renewals: Classes L and M | 147 |
The above figures show original and renewal registrations for the categories shown above for the time periods shown, but do not necessarily represent the exact number of entries in these issues of the Catalog.
The images above were scanned by Google, and by Dianne Bean, John Mark Ockerbloom, and Mary Mark Ockerbloom, from photocopies of bound volumes by the University Library Project, 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 1952, email onlinebooks@pobox.upenn.edu. (Please don't send any files by email unless I ask for them!)
