Jacqueline C. Charlesworth, General Counsel and Associate Register of Copyrights, oversees the legal affairs of the U.S. Copyright Office. As General Counsel, she has primary responsibility for the legal interpretation of the U.S. Copyright Act. In addition to supervising the litigation-related and rulemaking activities of the Office, she advises Congress, the Department of Justice, and other agencies on a wide range of copyright-related law and policy matters.

Jacqueline was appointed General Counsel in July 2013. Previously, she served as Senior Counsel to the Register of Copyrights. She joined the Copyright Office in 2012 from a New York City law firm, where she focused on music and copyright issues. Before entering private practice, she held the position of Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), representing music publishers and songwriters in litigation, regulatory and other matters. Prior to that, she served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of The Harry Fox Agency, Inc. (HFA).

In addition to precedential copyright cases, Jacqueline has handled significant transactional matters within the music industry. Acting on behalf of publishers and songwriters, she worked with digital media companies and record labels to enable the launch of early on-demand streaming services, successfully negotiating the first rates and terms for those services to be adopted under the statutory licensing provisions of the Copyright Act. She is also responsible for a long-term, multiparty agreement to improve industry licensing practices.

Jacqueline received her J.D. from Yale Law School and holds a B.A. in American Civilization from Brown University. At law school, she served on the Executive Committee of The Yale Law Journal. Following law school, she clerked for Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum of the Southern District of New York and Judge Betty B. Fletcher of the Ninth Circuit.

RICHARD CONLON is a long-time leader and innovator in the effort to build the global ecosystem for the monetization and management of rights across analog and digital platforms. As Principal at Rights Management Holdings, he provides strategic consulting services to the owners of entertainment rights and properties and invests in emerging technologies serving the entertainment rights economy.

Prior to founding RMH, he served as Senior Vice President Corporate Strategy, Communications & New Media at Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) where he launched the corporate strategy and digital business units.