Janet Fries Quoted in the Los Angeles Times

Washington, DC of counsel Janet Fries was quoted in a Los Angeles Times article titled, “Creators frustrated with Copyright Office’s outdated technology, procedures.”

The article discussed the experience of documentary film maker Aviva Kempner and her efforts to find out information about a song she wanted to use in her soon-to-be-released film “Rosenwald.”  The Copyright Office can take as long as six weeks to respond to requests while charging $200 an hour for its staff to retrieve documents.  Even then, the information might be outdated because updated information, which must be submitted on paper, can take over 18 months to process. Kempner said dealing with the office's inefficiencies sometimes adds weeks to production, draining staff time and resources.

Janet, who provided background information for the article and then introduced the reporter to Kempner, whom Janet represents pro bono, was quoted as saying that this type of experience with the Copyright Office is “very typical.”