Ringer, Barbara

Barbara Alice Ringer was born May 29, 1925 in the city of Lafayette in Indiana ^[4] . Her mother was the only girl in the class at the University of Michigan Law School in 1923 ^[3] . Both of Ringer's parents worked as government lawyers. ^[3]

Barbara was a Phi Beta Kappa and was a graduate of George Washington University in 1945 ^[4] , receiving a Master of Arts in 1947 ^[2] . Ringer graduated from Columbia University Law School in 1949. ^[4] Upon graduation, Ringer joined the US Copyright Office as an inspector. ^[5]

Barbara Ringer began her career at the Copyright Office in 1949 and began to move up the career ladder ^[2] . She participated in the preparation of the Universal Copyright Convention (VKAP) and acted as a rapporteur on the creation of the Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations ^[6] . She made a significant contribution to the Intellectual Property Conference in Stockholm in 1967, which subsequently led to the revision of the VKAP and the Berne Convention ^[6] . Ringer also taught at the School of Law at Georgetown University , where she was the first female adjunct professor of law ^[2] .

Ringer served as director of the UNESCO Copyright Division in Paris from 1972 to 1973 ^[2] . In 1973, she left her post at UNESCO to take up the position of Registrar (Director) of copyright in the United States Copyright Office ^[7] , where she held this position until May 1980. After she began private law practice in Washington at the law firm Spencer & Kaye ^[2] .

In 1985, Ringer acted as keynote speaker at a conference in Brussels that adopted the international Convention on the Distribution of Program-Carrying Signals Transmitted by Satellite. Ringer returned to government in 1993 as a co-chair of the Advisory Committee of Copyright Librarians and as Acting Registrar of Copyright ^[2] .

Barbara Ringer is the author of numerous studies, monographs and articles in legal and professional journals. She has conducted empirical research on copyright throughout her career ^[3] . Ringer is also the author of an article on copyright in the Fifteenth edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica ^[2] .

In 1971, Barbara Ringer’s colleague, George D. Carey, was appointed to the highest position in the Copyright Office and was appointed registrar. ^[8] Ringer began to dispute this appointment and filed a lawsuit, she considered his appointment an example of gender discrimination against her by the chief librarian ^[8] . Ringer stated that the did not follow the instructions of the staff and appointed Carey, although she had every reason to be appointed ^[8] . By taking this step, Barbara Ringer showed her willingness to also speak openly about racial issues and promote the issue of the rights of African-American workers. ^[8] ruled that “The librarian violated the discrimination rules for Carey’s choice over Ringer for this position. The court ruled Carey’s appointment to be invalid and ordered the Chief Librarian to take corrective action. ^[8] m according to the account of the copyright registrar on November 19, 1973 ^[7] .

For several years after starting work at the Copyright Office, Ringer wanted to update the 1909 Copyright Act ^[5] . She wrote and said that copyright laws should be updated to take into account new technologies, such as television , commercial radio, and copy machines ^[4] . Ringer made a great contribution to the new Copyright Act of 1976 , it took her 21 years, including negotiating with interested parties and lobbying Congress to update the copyright law ^[6] .

She later wrote:

The main changes in copyright after the adoption of the Law of 1976 was the extension of the term of protection of copyright from 28 years after the death of the author to 50 and the adoption of the doctrine of fair use ^[4] . The inclusion of double gender pronouns in the new copyright law was also made thanks to the persistence of Ringer ^[6] .

In 1977, Ringer was awarded for her role in promoting the 1976 Copyright Act. In 1992, Barbara Ringer drafted an amendment to copyright law ^[6] . The Copyright Office has established the Barbara Ringer program, which allows young lawyers to work in the field of copyright on legislative and policy issues in the government ^[10] .

Ringer later admitted the flaws of its legislation, calling it “a good 1950 copyright law” ^[11] . She advocated the position that the public interest in copyright "should provide the widest possible access to information of all kinds" ^[12] . Ringer collaborated with copyright lawyers, scholars, librarians, content creators, and members of the judiciary to create the 1993 draft law on copyright reform, but it was not passed ^[6] .

In 1995, the Library of Congress awarded her its Distinguished Service Award for its “vital contribution to copyright, nationally and internationally, and for its contribution to the Library of Congress for forty years” ^[13] .

Ringer moved to Bath County, Virginia, where she worked as a cataloger in a local public library. ^[14] Barbara Ringer died on April 9, 2009 in Lexington , Virginia, due to complications from dementia ^[4] . She bequeathed her collection of 20,000 films to the Library of Congress. ^[14]

• Barbara A. Ringer '49 . Columbia Law School Magazine (April 9, 2009). Date of treatment January 23, 2016.
• Barbara Ringer US Copyright Office. Date of treatment January 23, 2016.
• Goldberg, Morton David. Barbara Ringer and Copyright History: Remembering a Mentor, Colleague and Friend // Journal of the Copyright Society of the USA. - 2009. - Vol. 59, No. 4.
• Schudel, Matt. Force Behind New Copyright Law . The Washington Post (April 26, 2009). Date of treatment January 23, 2016.
• Miller, Stephen. She Helped Put Her Stamp on Copyright Law . The Wall Street Journal (May 9, 2009). Date of treatment January 23, 2016.
• Nierman, Judith. Barbara Ringer: 1925–2009 // Copyright Notices: Special Edition. - 2009. - April.
• Patry, William F. Copyright Law and Practice . - Greenwood Press, 1994 .-- T. 2 .-- 2244 p. - (BNA books). - ISBN 0871798557 .
• District Court, District of Columbia. Ringer v. Mumford, 355 F. Supp. 749 (DC 1973) Court Listener. Date of treatment January 24, 2016.
• Ringer, Barbara. First Thoughts on the Copyright Act of 1976 // 22 NYL Sch. L. Rev .. - 1978. - S. 479.
• Pallante, Maria A. Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet . US Copyright Office (March 20, 2013). Date of treatment January 24, 2016.
• Ringer, Barbara. Authors' Rights in the Elctronic Age: Beyond the Copyright Act of 1976 // Digital Commons at Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School. - 1981. - January 1.
• Librarian Honors Former Register of Copyrights . The Library of Congress. Date of treatment January 23, 2016.
• Schudel, Matt. Barbara A. Ringer dies at 83; force behind copyright law . Los Angeles Times (May 4, 2009). Date of treatment January 23, 2016.