Subject Guide: Copyright

• United States Code, Title 17 – The text of the copyright law itself.
• List of Library of Congress Information Circulars and Factsheets - Provides basic information about registration, fees, compulsory licenses, and other aspects of the copyright process.  All are available in PDF format.
• Berne Convention, the International Copyright Treaty, which the US signed on to in 1989.
• Digital Millenium Copyright Act  - A large PDF with the actual text of the act.  This copy is provided by the Library of Congress Copyright Office.

• Title 17, Sect. 107 – The text of the Fair Use portion of the Copyright code.
• Music Library Association’s Fair Use Statement – This explains fair use as it applies to music materials.
• SULAIR : Copyright & Fair Use – From the Stanford University Libraries, an overview of copyright, fair use, academic permissions, and more.  It includes a section entitled Rules for Reproducing Music.
• Title VI - Visual Artists Rights Act  -- From the University of Connecticut School of Law
• Moral Rights for Artists: The Visual Arts Rights Act, by Jeffrey P. Cunard, published in CAA News, Volume 27, Number 3 (May/June 2002), p. 6-8. An excellent overview of the legislation and how it does or doesn't apply to artforms that fall outside traditional boundaries, for example, mixed-media and multimedia. A must-read!
• Visual Resources Advocacy Statement - PART I : Traditional Formats and Practices
  • Images Used In Teaching and Research;;
  • Images Used By Students, Their Teachers and Others; Appropriation
• Visual Resources Advocacy Statement - PART II : New Technologies and Images
  • The Transition From Analog to Digital: Images In Education and Scholarship and the Visual Resources Collection
•  Copyright and Fair Use: The Great Image Debate. A special issue of Visual Resources: An International Journal of Documentation, edited by Robert A. Baron (Volume 12, Number 3/4, 1997)
• A Proposal For Educational Fair Use Guidelines For Digital Images
  by Georgia Harper
• Fair Use of Copyrighted Materials [More from the pen of Georgia Harper at the University of Texas System, including "Rules of Thumb for Digitizing and Using Images for Educational Purposes"]

Scores, recordings, and live performances all have different copyright restrictions.  These sites help clarify those differences.

• Digital Future Coalition – Provides information of copyright and the digital age.  Represents both owners and users of intellectual property.
• VRA Copyright Page (Visual Resources Association) including the Copy Photograph Computator
• Institute for Learning Technologies Guide to Copyright
  Besides supplying general information on copyright, this site includes access to the Institute's Copyright Resources for Education Online (CREDO), a database of original material providing important basic information and useful tips on how to protect one's work and how to comply with the existing rules for the use of others' copyrighted works.

Consult these agencies and associations to learn more about licensing music for use or performance.

• Licensing Images:
  • Artists Rights Society, Inc. (ARS) -- Handles permissions for most artists active in the 20th century.  See their page      Clearing Rights for Art Works
    
  • Art Resource – Handles permissions for major European and American museums, archives and collections.

Visual Artists and Galleries Association, Inc. (VAGA), 350 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2820, New York, NY 10018. The telephone number is 212/736-6666; fax number is 212/736-6767; Robert Panzer is the Executive Director. E-mail: info@vagarights.com.

Resources for registering your own visual work with the U.S. Copyright Office.

• Visual Art Works – From the U.S. Copyright Office
• Circular 40: Copyright Registration for Works of the Visual Arts
• Circular 40a: Deposit Requirements for Registration of Claims to Copyright in Visual Arts Material
• Circular 44: Cartoons and Comic Strips