Copyright registrations from 1959 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:
1959 original copyrights were due to be renewed in 1986 and 1987 (see the Copyright Office database for registrations for these years.) Original copyrights for 1959 renewals date from 1931 and 1932. 1931 copyrights could also be renewed in 1958, and 1932 copyrights could also be renewed in 1960. 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.
| Copyright Registrations for Books, Pamphlets, Serials, and Contributions to Periodicals, January-June 1959 | |
|---|---|
| Books, pamphlets, and serials published in the United States | 27,451 |
| Books in foreign languages published abroad | 2,005 |
| Books in the English language first published abroad | 298 |
| Total | 29,754 |
| Contributions to periodicals | 1,537 |
| Renewals: Books, pamphlets, and serials | 2,114 |
| Renewals: Contributions to periodicals | [not given in Part 1] |
| Copyright Registrations for Books, Pamphlets, Serials, and Contributions to Periodicals, July-December 1959 | |
| Books, pamphlets, and serials published in the United States | 26,274 |
| Books in foreign languages published abroad | 1,694 |
| Books in the English language first published abroad | 271 |
| Total | 28,239 |
| Contributions to periodicals | 1,515 |
| Renewals: Books, pamphlets, and serials | 1,832 |
| Renewals: Contributions to periodicals | [not given in Part 1] |
| Copyright Registrations of Periodicals, January-June 1959 | |
| Periodicals | 31,270 |
| Renewals | 2,170 |
| Copyright Registrations of Periodicals, July-December 1959 | |
| Periodicals | 30,178 |
| Renewals | 2,126 |
| Copyright Registrations of Dramas and Works Prepared for Oral Delivery, January-June 1959 | |
| Class C: Lectures and other works prepared for oral delivery | 411 |
| Class D: Published dramatic and dramatico-musical works | 280 |
| Class D: Unpublished dramatic and dramatico-musical works | 1,121 |
| Dramas registered in Class A | 53 |
| Total | 1,865 |
| Renewals, Class C | 1 |
| Renewals, Class D | 345 |
| Copyright Registrations of Dramas and Works Prepared for Oral Delivery, July-December 1959 | |
| Class C: Lectures and other works prepared for oral delivery | 401 |
| Class D: Published dramatic and dramatico-musical works | 257 |
| Class D: Unpublished dramatic and dramatico-musical works | 874 |
| Dramas registered in Class A | 32 |
| Total | 1,564 |
| Renewals, Classes C and D | 435 |
| Copyright Registrations of Music, January-June 1959 | |
| Musical compositions published in the United States | 5,748 |
| Musical compositions published outside the United States | 4,382 |
| Unpublished music | 27,132 |
| Dramatico-musical compositions registered in class D | 93 |
| Music registered in class A | 292 |
| Total | 37,647 |
| Renewals | 5,239 |
| Copyright Registrations of Music, July-December 1959 | |
| Musical compositions published in the United States | 5,048 |
| Musical compositions published outside the United States | 3,651 |
| Unpublished music | 24,189 |
| Dramatico-musical compositions registered in class D | 59 |
| Music registered in class A | 318 |
| Total | 33,265 |
| Renewals | 4,805 |
| Copyright Registrations for Maps, January-June 1959 | |
| Class F: Maps published in the United States | 1,126 |
| Class F: Maps published outside the United States | 1 |
| Maps and atlases registered in Class A | 44 |
| Total | 1,171 |
| Renewals | 287 |
| Copyright Registrations for Maps, July-December 1959 | |
| Class F: Maps published in the United States | 820 |
| Class F: Maps published abroad | 3 |
| Maps and atlases registered in Class A | 158 |
| Total | 981 |
| Renewals | 200 |
| Copyright Registrations for Artwork, January-June 1959 | |
| Class G: Published works of art and designs for works of art | 1,953 |
| Class G: Unpublished works of art and designs for works of art | 630 |
| Class H: Reproductions of works of art | 699 |
| Class I: Published drawings or plastic works of a scientific or technical character | 155 |
| Class I: Unpublished drawings or plastic works of a scientific or technical character | 203 |
| Class J: Published photographs | 223 |
| Class J: Unpublished photographs | 116 |
| Class K: Prints and pictorial illustrations | 1,920 |
| Total | 5,899 |
| Renewals, Class G | 42 |
| Renewals, Class I | 3 |
| Renewals, Class J | 26 |
| Renewals, Class K | 56 |
| Total renewals | 127 |
| Copyright Registrations for Artwork, July-December 1959 | |
| Class G: Published works of art and designs for works of art | 2,179 |
| Class G: Unpublished works of art and designs for works of art | 420 |
| Class H: Reproductions of works of art | 1,154 |
| Class I: Published drawings or plastic works of a scientific or technical character | 121 |
| Class I: Unpublished drawings or plastic works of a scientific or technical character | 228 |
| Class J: Published photographs | 333 |
| Class J: Unpublished photographs | 83 |
| Class K: Prints and pictorial illustrations | 1,548 |
| Total | 6,066 |
| Renewals, Class G | 7 |
| Renewals, Class I | 2 |
| Renewals, Class J | 6 |
| Renewals, Class K | 53 |
| Total renewals | 68 |
| Copyright Registrations for Commercial Prints and Labels, January-June 1959 | |
| Commercial prints and labels | 4,488 |
| Renewals | 40 |
| Copyright Registrations for Commercial Prints and Labels, July-December 1959 | |
| Commercial prints and labels | 3,814 |
| Renewals | 44 |
| Copyright Registrations for Motion Pictures and Filmstrips, January-June 1959 | |
| Class L: Published motion picture photoplays | 1,223 |
| Class L: Unpublished motion picture photoplays | 7 |
| Class M: Published motion pictures other than photoplays | 343 |
| Class M: Unpublished motion pictures other than photoplays | 233 |
| Filmstrips registered in Class A | 49 |
| Filmstrips registered in Class J | 192 |
| Total | 2,047 |
| Renewals: Classes L and M | 474 |
| Copyright Registrations for Motion Pictures and Filmstrips, July-December 1959 | |
| Class L: Published motion picture photoplays | 1,313 |
| Class L: Unpublished motion picture photoplays | 4 |
| Class M: Published motion pictures other than photoplays | 243 |
| Class M: Unpublished motion pictures other than photoplays | 59 |
| Filmstrips registered in Class A | 18 |
| Filmstrips registered in Class J | 232 |
| Total | 1,869 |
| Renewals: Classes L and M | 546 |
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 the Copyright Office, by Google, by the Universal Library Project, by Penn's Schoenberg Center for Electronic Text and Image (with volumes loaned from Stanford), by John Mark Ockerbloom (with microfilm loaned from the Free Library of Philadelphia), and by Greg Weeks. If you would like to contribute better copies, email onlinebooks@pobox.upenn.edu. (Please don't send any images by email unless I ask for them.)