The agreement of the National Commission on New Technological Uses of Copyrighted Works (CONTU) with the legislative intent of the new copyright law, which accords copyright protection for computer data bases equivalent with the protection accorded compilations in traditional hard-copy format, includes several problem areas: (1) What copyright consequences attach to the "input" into a computer of a copyrighted work? (2) What rights does the proprietor of copyright in a data base have in regard to the use of extracts provided in response to authorized searches or inquiries made of the data base? and (3) What constitutes publication of a data base, and what legal consequences attach to such publication? Appropriate registration and deposit requirements should be adopted by the Registrar of Copyrights consistent with the statutory discretion vested in that official, to permit and encourage the registration and periodic updating of identifying material rather than actual duplicate copies of data bases. (Author/CMV)