Additional Resources

Copyright Registration and Clearance

NewsNet - copyright.gov/newsnet

NewsNet is a free online newsletter published by the United States Copyright Office. It alerts us to hearings, new legislation, proposed changes, new publications, and the like. It also solicits comments on actions the office is taking.

Copyright Clearance Center - copyright.com

This Center is an easy first place to go to for obtaining copyright clearance since they work with many of the major publishing companies. They have a section specifically for academic copyright clearance: Copyright on Campus.

Information About Copyright Law

Stanford Copyright and Fair Use – fairuse.stanford.edu

A very extensive compilation of copyright information, published by the Stanford University Libraries. They have a section which keeps abreast of current changes or additions to copyright law: Current Legistation and Issues

The Center for Internet and Society - cyberlaw.stanford.edu

The Center for Internet and Society (CIS) is a public interest technology law and policy program at Stanford Law School which studies the interaction of new technologies and the law. They have especially good resources on fair use.

Chilling Effects - chillingeffects.org

Chilling Effects is a joint project of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, University of San Francisco, University of Maine, George Washington School of Law, and Santa Clara University School of Law clinics. They try to help users understand the protections that the First Amendment and intellectual property laws give to their online activities.

In addition to their extensive Copyright FAQ, they have resources on a wide array of topics such as the DMCA, cease and desist notices, linking, and anonymity

Electronic Frontier Foundation: eff.org

The EFF confronts cutting-edge issues concerning free speech, privacy, innovation, and consumer rights in the realm of information technology. Among their resources, they have very useful copyright guidelines for bloggers and authors of online content.

Information about Filesharing and Downloading Files:

EDUCAUSE has prepared a video and put together some resources to help individuals be informed about the issues surrounding the downloading and sharing of copyrighted material.

MusicUnited's website is a great resource for educating yourself about all the issues related to file sharing. The site contains the voices of the artists and creators themselves. MusicUnited.org is an alliance of virtually all the music related professional organizations in the USA who have come together to support “strong Internet copyright.” Members of the alliance include the following:

AEC One Stop Group • Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies • American Assn. of Independent Music • American Federation of Musicians • American Federation of Television and Radio Artists • American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers • Association of Independent Music Publishers • Broadcast Music, Inc. • Christian Music Trade Association • Church Music Publishers Association • Country Music Association • Gospel Music Association • Hip Hop Summit Action Network • Jazz Alliance International • Music Managers Forum-USA • Music Performance Fund • National Association of Recording Merchandisers • National Music Publishers' Association • Nashville Songwriters Association International • Recording Artists' Coalition • Recording Industry Association of America • Rhythm and Blues Foundation • SESAC • SoundExchange • Tennessee Songwriters Association International • The Recording Academy • The Songwriters Guild of America • Wright Entertainment Group

Copyright Alternatives and the Public Domain

Copyleft - wikipedia.org: Copyleft

"Copyleft" is the practice of using copyright law to remove restrictions on distributing copies and modified versions of a work, and requiring that the same freedoms be preserved in modified versions.

Creative Commons - creativecommons.org

Creative Commons provides free tools that let authors, scientists, artists, and educators easily mark their creative work with the freedoms they want it to carry. You can use CC to change your copyright terms from "All Rights Reserved" to "Some Rights Reserved." You can use most Creative Commons works without having to ask for permission, as long as you follow the licensing guidelines specified by the creator.

Creative Commons explained in comics:

Where to Find Free Culture

Flickr: Creative Commons - flickr.com/creativecommons

Flickr is a commercial photo sharing website which makes it easy for users to automatically place all their images under Creative Commons licenses. By searching for Creative Commons licensed images on Flickr, you can find millions of "some rights reserved" photos.

OER Commons - oercommons.org

Open Education Resources (OER) are teaching and learning materials that are freely available online for everyone to use, whether you are an instructor, student, or self-learner. Examples of OER include: full courses, course modules, syllabi, lectures, homework assignments, quizzes, lab and classroom activities, pedagogical materials, games, simulations, and many more resources contained in digital media collections from around the world.

OER Commons is the first comprehensive open learning network where teachers and professors (from pre-K to graduate school) can access their colleagues’ course materials, share their own, and collaborate on affecting today’s classrooms.

Wikipedia

All of Wikipedia is published under the GNU Free Documentation License. This "copyleft" license means that all the content in Wikipedia is freely available for reuse, as long as the resulting works are also released under the same license.

Wikipedia entries which list public domain sources:

The Wikimedia Foundation (hosts of the Wikipedia Project) are dedicated to freely available culture, and they have many compilations of free cultural resources:

Appropriate Use of Licensed Electronic Resources: Rights and Responsibilities