Selected copyright registrations from 1955 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:
1955 original copyrights were due to be renewed in 1982 and 1983 (see the Copyright Office database for registrations for these years.) Original copyrights for 1955 renewals date from 1927 and 1928. 1927 copyrights could also be renewed in 1954, and 1928 copyrights could also be renewed in 1956. To find out more about researching copyright renewals, see this page.
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yet available online are original registrations for artwork, commercial prints, published music (for January-June), and unpublished music. Please let us know if you have or find any of these online.
| Copyright Registrations for Books, Pamphlets, Serials, and Contributions to Periodicals, January-June 1955 | |
|---|---|
| Books, pamphlets, and serials published in the United States | 24,378 |
| Books in foreign languages published abroad | 2,012 |
| Books in the English language first published abroad | 702 |
| Total | 27,092 |
| Contributions to periodicals | 1,712 |
| Renewals: Books, pamphlets, and serials | 1,594 |
| Renewals: Contributions to periodicals | 1,643 |
| Copyright Registrations for Books, Pamphlets, Serials, and Contributions to Periodicals, July-December 1955 | |
| Books, pamphlets, and serials published in the United States | 23,274 |
| Books in foreign languages published abroad | 1,698 |
| Books in the English language first published abroad | 756 |
| Total | 25,728 |
| Contributions to periodicals | 1,611 |
| Renewals: Books, pamphlets, and serials | 1,844 |
| Renewals: Contributions to periodicals | [not given] |
| Copyright Registrations of Periodicals, January-June 1955 | |
| Periodicals | 30,532 |
| Renewals | 1,132 | Copyright Registrations of Periodicals, July-December 1955 |
| Periodicals | 27,643 |
| Renewals | 1,844 |
| Copyright Registrations of Dramas and Works Prepared for Oral Delivery, January-June 1955 | |
| Class C: Lectures and other works prepared for oral delivery | 464 |
| Class D: Published dramatic and dramatico-musical works | 308 |
| Class D: Unpublished dramatic and dramatico-musical works | 1,448 |
| Total | 2,220 |
| Renewals, Class C | 30 |
| Renewals, Class D | 345 |
| Copyright Registrations of Dramas and Works Prepared for Oral Delivery, July-December 1955 | |
| Class C: Lectures and other works prepared for oral delivery | 312 |
| Class D: Published dramatic and dramatico-musical works | 362 |
| Class D: Unpublished dramatic and dramatico-musical works | 1,231 |
| Total | 1,905 |
| Renewals, Class D | 397 |
| Copyright Registrations for Published Music, July-December 1955 | |
| Musical compositions published in the United States | 4,868 |
| Musical compositions published abroad | 3,904 |
| Total | 8,772 |
| Renewal Copyright Registrations of Music | |
| Renewal registrations, January-June 1955 | 5,218 |
| Renewal registrations, July-December 1955 | 4,680 |
| Copyright Registrations for Maps, January-June 1955 | |
| Class F: Maps published in the United States | 1,086 |
| Class F: Maps published outside the United States | 26 |
| Renewals | 417 |
| Copyright Registrations for Maps, July-December 1955 | |
| Class F: Maps published in the United States | 1,131 |
| Class F: Maps published outside the United States | 18 |
| Renewals | 436 |
| Copyright Registrations for Motion Pictures, January-June 1955 | |
| Class L: Published motion picture photoplays | 636 |
| Class L: Unpublished motion picture photoplays | 21 |
| Class M: Published motion pictures other than photoplays | 641 |
| Class M: Unpublished motion pictures other than photoplays | 98 |
| Total | 1,396 |
| Renewals: Classes L and M | 562 |
| Copyright Registrations for Motion Pictures, July-December 1955 | |
| Class L: Published motion picture photoplays | 735 |
| Class L: Unpublished motion picture photoplays | 24 |
| Class M: Published motion pictures other than photoplays | 589 |
| Class M: Unpublished motion pictures other than photoplays | 90 |
| Total | 1,438 |
| Renewals: Classes L and M | 554 |
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 the Universal Library Project, Greg Weeks, and the Penn Libraries (with a volume loaned from Stanford, and microfilm loaned from the Free Library of Philadelphia). If you would like to contribute better copies, or registrations that we don't yet list for 1955, email onlinebooks@pobox.upenn.edu. (Please don't send any images by email unless I ask for them.)