Although CCC was originally founded in 1978 as a not-for-profit organization in response to negotiations preceding the Copyright Act of 1976, the I.R.S. revoked CCC's tax-exempt status in 1982 and the United States Tax Court affirmed that holding, finding that whatever public benefits CCC's activities might produce, its primary purpose was to "further[] the economic interest of publishers and copyright owners" and its founders (a group of publishers) had no "interests of any substance beyond the creation of a device to protect their copyright ownership and collect license fees." CCC still maintains a state-level not-for-profit status in the State of New York, but for federal purposes is a for-profit company.