Brent Lutes, UCI economics Ph.D. ’15, has been appointed the first chief economist of the U.S. Copyright Office. In this role, Lutes will evaluate the economic impacts of programs and policies relating to the U.S. and international copyright systems. He will be advising the Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter and other senior officials on how these impacts affect the office, copyright stakeholders, and the general public.

Lutes is an applied economist. He comes from the Brattle Group, a global economic and financial consulting firm, where he served as a consultant, project manager, and expert witness. Lutes has contributed important economic analyses in high-profile litigation and regulatory matters involving intellectual property in the United States and internationally. His experience spans a breadth of industries, including art and entertainment, technology, telecommunications, transportation, and health care.

Lutes earned his bachelor’s degree in economics and quantitative analysis from San Diego State University and his master’s and doctorate in economics from UCI.

The U.S. Copyright Office registers copyright claims, records information about copyright ownership, provides information to the public, and assists Congress and other parts of the government on a wide range of copyright issues, both simple and complex. The office is a separate department of the Library of Congress.

-courtesy of U.S. Copyright Office