Copyright

Digital Millennium Copyright Act Study

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was enacted into law in the United States on October 28 1998. Section 104 of the DMCA required the US Copyright Office to carry out this study, which is now published on their website. The study seeks to evaluate the relationship between technological change and copyright law, focusing on copyright related issues such as first sale doctrine, temporary incidental copies and archival copying of computer programmes. Feedback on these issues from the library community, publishers and private citizens forms part of the study. 

Open Access Law Program

The Open Access Law Program is an initiative of Science Commons a publishing project promoting "free access to scholarly literature without undue copyright and licensing restrictions". The site provides access to a range of principles and agreements that authors and publishers can adopt. These include the Open Access Law Journal Principles, the Open Access Law Author Pledge and the Open Access Model Publishing Agreement.

Copyright Renewal Database

Website providing access to Stanford University's Copyright Renewal Database containing copyright renewal records for books published in the United States between 1923 and 1963. During this period renewal registration was required to prevent the expiration of copyright. The records are held by the US Copyright Office and have been included in this searchable, browsable database. Records can be browsed by year, title or author and searched by keyword or using an advanced search option.

Copyright & Fair Use

Website providing information about copyright and fair use for librarians and academics, run by Stanford University Libraries. Includes copyright FAQs, guidance on copyright research and information about permissions, the public domain, fair use and releases. There is a  Law section with US legislation and cases as well as international treaties. A collection of tools includes a copyright flowchart, a digital copyright slider, a digital image rights calculator, a fair use evaluator and many more practical resources.

Free Culture

Website devoted to the book 'Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity' by Professor Lawrence Lessig of Stanford Law School. Published in 2004, it is available here under a Creative Commons licence. The book covers the effect of the internet on commercial and non-commercial culture and the increasing regulation that comes with the digitisation of culture. There are sections looking at the concepts of piracy and property and a discussion of the Eldred v. Ashcroft case with which Prof. Lessig was involved.

Digital Law Online

Digital Law Online was established by Professor Lee A. Hollaar of the School of Computing at the University of Utah and was last updated in 2016. It contains an online version of Professor Hollaar's 2002 book, "Legal Protection of Digital Information." The book deals with copyright and patent law, including protection of software and other digital works; the emphasis is on US law. Links are given to all cases, statutes and congressional reports referred to in the text. The book is updated on the site and supplementary information is provided.

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