Copyright & Fair Use Articles

General Articles

• Big Myths about copyright explained by Brad Templeton. This is a list of 10 misconceptions of about copyright rights
• A Bill of Writes column by Nicholas Negroponte and Michael Hawley, originally published in Wired Magazine. Almost every book published in the United States during the last 15 years has been produced digitally. The Bill of Writes is a digital deposit act, requiring that each item submitted to the Library of Congress be accompanied by its digital source in order to obtain copyright. This will lead to the quicker building of digital libraries which will benefit future generations
• Posting Course Materials Online Course Management Systems From Columbia University's Copyright Advisory Office
• Copyright and Authors' Rights by Mike Holderness for the International Federation of Journalists Freelance conference in Amsterdam. Statement urging a recognition of "authors' rights" by the United States and the UK
• Copyright and Fair Use in the Digital Age: Q&A with Peter Lyman. Educom Review
• Copyright and Preservation: A Serious Problem in Need of a Thoughtful Solution by Robert L. Oakley
• Copyright Basics [PDF] From the US Copyright Office
• Copyright FAQ From the US Copyright Office
• The Copyright Grab by Pamela Samuelson, a visiting professor of law at Cornell Law School and a Fellow of EFF. Published in Wired. Examines the White Paper on Intellectual Property and the National Information Infrastructure and how enactment of its views would rescinded traditional user rights to browse, share, or make private noncommercial copies of copyrighted works and lead to an invasion of user privacy. Argues that the White Paper is not a good idea from a user perspective
• Copyright Law for the Digital Library Framework of Rights and Exceptions, by Kenneth D. Crews Indiana School of Law (PDF Document)
• Crash Course in Copyright From the University of Texas Fair Use and Copyright Center
• The Economy of Ideas: A framework for rethinking patents and copyrights in the Digital Age (Everything you know about intellectual property is wrong) by John Perry Barlow, a retired cattle rancher, a lyricist for the Grateful Dead, and co-founder and executive chair of EFF. Published in Wired magazine
• The Educator's Guide to Copyright and Fair Use From tech Learning a resource for teachers, technology coordinators and administrators.
• Fair Use Check List From Columbia University's Copyright Advisory Office
• Fair Use of Copyrighted Works Electronic version of a pamphlet published by CETUS: Consortium for Educational Technology in University Systems. Includes information on fair use as it relates to higher education, illustrative scenarios, and information on obtaining permissions.
• Fair Use in the Electronic Age: Serving the Public Interest this Working Document is an outgrowth of discussions among a number of library associations regarding intellectual property, and in particular, the concern that the interests and rights of copyright owners and users remain balanced in the digital environment.
• Fair Use Materials and Articles From the University of Texas Fair Use and Copyright Site
  • Copyright in the Library
  • Copyright Management
  • Coursepacks and Fair Use
  • Creating Rights for Mulimedia Works
  • Enforcement of Copyright Law Against State Universities
  • Fair Use Reserve Operations
  • Future of Fair Use
  • Information on Getting Permission
  • Licensing Resources
  • Permissible Copying of Software
  • Permissible Use of Research Copies
  • Presentations on Various Copyright Topics
  • What do the CONFU Guidelines Mean?
  • Who Owns What?
• Franklin Pierce Law Center Publications on Intellectual Property Several discussions of intellectual property by Professor Thomas G. Field, Jr.
  • Avoiding Patent, Trademark and Copyright Problems: What You Don't Know Can Hurt You - The title says it all. Written primarily for the owners of small businesses who feel that they cannot afford to concern themselves with intellectual property.
  • Copyright for Computer Authors
  • Copyright on the Internet Focuses on copyright issues most apt to concern those who post to or own email lists or those who have put up web pages. Such matters as the fundamental distinction between works that are and are not "for hire," deposit and issues to consider in transferring copyright interests are treated in the two discussions below.
  • Copyright in Visual Arts Addresses the importance of copyright registration and notice, works for hire, deposit requirements, registration of multiple works, the need for counsel in licensing and other matters of interest to free lance artists, computer authors, craftspeople and entrepreneurs.
• How Much of Someone Else's Work May I Use Without Asking Permission? The Fair Use Doctrine - Part II By Lloyd L. Rich.
• Intellectual Property Committee on Copy Control Systems, DRAFT Institutes of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Position Statement on Copy Control Systems
• Intellectual Value by Esther Dyson, Originally published in Wired Magazine, discusses how the Net changes the economics of content and strategies to take advantage of these changes
• Is Copyright Dead on the Net? by Lance Rose, published in Wired Magazine
• Judicial Response: A Safe Harbor in the "Fair Use" Doctrine
• The Law of Fair Use and the Illusion of Fair Use Guidelines by Kenneth Crews, from the Ohio State Law Journal
• Legal and Policy Responses to the Disappearing 'Teacher Exception,' Or Copyright Ownership in the 21st Century University by Elizabeth Townsend of the University of Arizona. Publsihed in the University of Minnesota Law School's Minnesota Intellectual Property Review in 2003 (vol. 4, issue 2, page 209).
• Library Copyright Liability and Pirating Patrons . . . and What You Can Do About It By Mary Minow, May 2001
• A Magna Carta for the Knowledge Age by Esther Dyson, George Gilder, George Keyworth and Alvin Toffler
• Negativland's Essay on Fair Use
• Promoting Open Access: Developing New Strategies for Managing Copyright and Intellectual Property by Mary M. Case, Director, Office of Scholarly Communication, ARL, and Prudence S. Adler, Associate Executive Director, Federal Relations and Information Policy, ARL
• The Purpose of Copyright By Lydia Pallas Lauren, Northwestern School of Law Lewis & Clark College
• RISKS of guessing at Fair Use by Mich Kabay
• Some Thoughts on the Political Economy of Intellectual Property: A Brief Look at the International Copyright Relations of the United States David G. Post, Temple University
• University Copy Centers: Do They Pass the Fair Use Test? From the University of Texas Fair Use and Copyright site
• Washington State University Copyright Office Copyright articles and tests
• Whom Do You Trust? Op Ed by Michigan Law's Roberta J. Morris and Jonathan Franklin
• Where Does the Free Online Scholarship Movement Stand Today? by Peter Suber, Professor of Philosophy, Earlham College, and Editor Free Online Scholarship Newsletter
• Whose article is it anyway? Copyright and intellectual property issues for researchers in the 90s, Notices of the AMS, January 1996. By Ann Okerson
• Who Will Own Your Next Good Idea By Charles C. Mann, published in Atlantic Monthly (September 1998)

Digital Rights Management

• American Library Association, Washington Office, Digital Rights Issues
• Federal Communications Commission, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Matter of Digital Broadcast Copy Protection (PDF Document)
• DRM and Copyright: 'Code' and the Public Interest at the CrossroadsRick Weingarten, Director, ALA Office of Information Technology Policy
• Digital Rights Management and Privacy From the Electronic Privacy and Information Center (EPIC)
• Report of the Joint Information Systems Committee & Publishers Association Working Party On Fair Dealing in an Electronic Environment UK academic and publishing representatives working to find agreement on electronic publishing

Multimedia

• Borrowing Graphics or Text for Library Web Pages: Fair Game, Fair Play and Fair Use - Infopeople webcast held March 3, 2005 - free archived version (must register).
• Copyright Issues: Using and Creating Multimedia and Internet Resources by Georgia Harper, Office of General Counsel, University of Texas System.
• Creating Rights for Mulimedia Works From the University of Texas Copyright and Fair Use Site
• Intellectual Property Law Primer for Multimedia Developers by J. Dianne Brinson and Mark F. Radcliffe
• Multimedia Content and the Information Super Highway From Fenwick & West
• Multimedia Law and Business Handbook
• A Primer on the Law of Webcasting and Digital Music Delivery By Bob Kohn
• Permissible Copying of Software From the University of Texas Fair Use and Copyright site
• Video, Audio and Radio Fair Use From the University of Texas Fair Use and Copyright site

Obtaining Permissions

• Permissions - Stanford Copyright and Fair Use Overview
• Permissions From the Columbia University Advisory Office
  • Finding the Owner
  • Complex Searches
  • Collective Licensing Agencies
  • Requesting Permission
  • Model Forms
  • If You Cannot Find the Owner
• Redefining the Market Failure Approach to Fair Use in an Era of Copyright Permission Systems By Lydia Pallas Lauren from the Journal of Intellectual Property Law

Scholarly Communication

• Copyright Legislation and Scholarly Communication: Basic Principles from the University of California, draft document
• Professionals' Fair Use of Journal Articles for Scholarship, Reference and Research From the University of Texas copyright web site
• Scholarly Communication, Academic Libraries, and Technology From the Mellon Foundation and ARL
• Towards a New Paradigm for Scholarly Communication
• University Libraries & Scholarly Communication From the Mellon Foundation and ARL
• With Feathers: Effects of Ownership on Scholarly Publishing By Ann Okerson. Examines the effects of copyright on scholarly publications.