Rina Elster Pantalony Appointed Director of Copyright Advisory Office


Pantalony is currently Chair of the Standing Committee on Legal Affairs for the International Council of Museums.  She is also a faculty member at New York University Tisch School of the Arts teaching courses on Copyright Law and Policy, and also serves as Coordinator of Intellectual Property Projects for the NYU Department of Cinema Studies, Moving Image Archiving and Preservation program.  

She previously served as Chief IP Counsel to the Library and Archives of Canada for ten years while an IP lawyer with the Department of Justice Canada, was Director of Rights Management for a for-profit initiative of the Museum of Modern Art, and served as Director of Copyright Policy at the Canadian Heritage Information Network.  Rina holds a LL.B. (Canadian J.D.) from Dalhousie University Law School in Canada, and an honors B.A. in Political Science from Dalhousie University.  She was admitted to practice in the bar of the Province of Ontario, as a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada.

“We are thrilled to welcome Rina Elster Pantalony to Columbia as the new Director of the Copyright Advisory Office,” said Rob Cartolano, Associate Vice President, Digital Programs and Technology Services, Columbia University Libraries/Information Services.  “Her experience and knowledge will be instrumental in supporting the University as resource and advisor on the application of copyright policies for teaching, learning and research.”

Columbia University Libraries is one of the top five academic research library systems in North America. The collections include over 13 million volumes, over 160,000 journals and serials, as well as extensive electronic resources, manuscripts, rare books, microforms, maps, and graphic and audio-visual materials. The Libraries employs more than 400 professional and support staff and hosts over 4.7 million visitors each year.  The website of the Libraries is the gateway to its services and resources: library.columbia.edu.