Reading Room Document

Application of the Privacy Act to the Personnel Records of Employees in the Copyright Office

The Copyright Office is in the legislative branch, and is not an "agency" within the coverage of the Privacy Act. It is constitutionally permissible for an officer of the legislative branch, such as the Register of Copyrights, to perform executive functions, as long as the officer is appointed in accordance with the Appointments Clause. The personnel records of the Copyright Office are not subject to the Privacy Act by virtue of 17 U.S.C. § 701(d), because personnel actions taken by the Register of Copyrights are an incident of the personnel administration of the Library of Congress. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/24466/download.

May 8, 1980