Maria Strong

Maria Strong is the Associate Register of Copyrights and Director of Policy and International Affairs at  the United States Copyright Office. She leads the Office of Policy and International Affairs (PIA), which provides support and technical advice to Congress and represents the Copyright Office in interagency meetings and initiatives involving international aspects of copyright protection and enforcement. She advises the Register of Copyrights on domestic and international copyright issues, legislative matters, and trade and treaty discussions.

She also served as the Acting Register of Copyrights from January 5, 2020, through October 24, 2020. She led a 440-person workforce to administer the many aspects of the Copyright Act, deliver policy reports to Congress, and continue office IT modernization efforts, all during pandemic operations.  Since joining the Office in 2010, she has served in number of roles, including Director for PIA (since 2019), Acting Assistant Register and Director of Operations (2021-2022), Deputy Director of PIA (2015-2019), Acting General Counsel (2013), and Senior Counsel for PIA (2010-2015).

During her almost two decades in private practice, Ms. Strong represented clients in the media, entertainment, and technology sectors by providing analyses and advocacy on global and domestic issues involving copyright law, trade policy, enforcement, and e-commerce. She began her legal career as a staff attorney at the Federal Communications Commission.

She served as a trustee of the Copyright Society of the U.S.A and as co-chair of the ABA’s international copyright committee, and received the Librarian of Congress’s distinguished service award. She co-teaches international copyright law at the George Washington University Law School.

Ms. Strong received her JD from the George Washington University Law School, her MA in communications management from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Communications, and her BA in communication studies from UCLA.