Copyright: Law & Policy

United States Copyright Law (Title 17 of the United States Code) protects authors or creators of various published and unpublished works. Except as allowed by this code, it is a violation of law for persons to copy, distribute, perform, digitally transmit, or to create a new work based upon a copyrighted work without the permission of the copyright owner.
 

Copyright does not protect ideas, titles, names, short phrases, works in the public domain, forms that collect information, or links to websites. It does protect "forms of expressions" delivered in the following formats:

• Literary works
• Musical works (along with accompanying lyrics)
• Dramatic works (along with accompanying music)
• Pantomimes and choreographic works
• Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
• Motion pictures and audiovisual works
• Sound recordings
• Architectural works
• Computer programs

Copyright law gives an author/creator the exclusive rights to:

• Reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords
• Prepare derivative works based on the copyrighted work
• Distribute copies or phonorecords of the work by sale to the public or other transfer of ownership, rental, lease, or lending
• Perform literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work publicly.

It is not necessary for an author/creator to register a work with the Copyright Office in order to copyright it, nor is it still necessary to include a copyright notice.

• U.S. Copyright Office 

  The U.S. Copyright Office is an agency of the federal government.

• Copyright Basics 
  A helpful guide from the U.S. Copyright Office

• Frequently Asked Questions 
  FAQs from the U.S. Copyright Office

• Copyright Registration 

  Learn how to register your original works with the U.S. Copyright Office

• ALA Copyright Tools 

  Public Domain Slider, Section 108 Spinner, Fair Use Evaluator, and Exceptions for Instructors eTool by the American Library Association

• Title 17 

  Cornell University School of Law's keyword-searchable index to Title 17

• Fair Use 

  Information from the U.S. Copyright Office

• Fair Use: A Guide 

  Explains fair use and provides analysis resources and examples to help you evaluate whether fair use can be acceptably applied to your circumstances.

• Exceptions for Instructors 
  Self-guided evaluation of instructor planned copyright use by the American Library Association

• TEACH Act 
  Brief guide to the TEACH Act by the Copyright Clearance Center

• Digital Millennium Copyright Act 
  18-page summary of the original 60-page DMCA of 1998

• WATCH Database 

  Search the University of Texas' WATCH database to find out who holds copyrights and how to contact to ask permission