ScrivenersError.com: Copyright

Copyright Resources

This is a non-exhaustive list of copyright resources. Several of the links point to more-comprehensive resources. Unless you have substantial legal training—not just experience in the publishing field, as a significant proportion of "industry standard procedure" is based on either urban legend or outmoded legal doctrines—I do not recommend relying upon sources not directly linked from this site.

This list will grow over time, and includes both external resources and articles on the ScrivenersError.com site.

Last updated: 02 July 2005

Resources on ScrivenersError.com

Books on Copyright evaluates nonprofessional (that is, not written as legal references) books on copyright for their value to authors and other content creators.
Legal Authority on Copyright is a constantly growing collection of legal materials related to copyright, including case law, the statute, relevant legislative history, and some commentary. Not all of the resources reside on this server, so please be patient when accessing the files.
Public domain dates is a guide to determining when a work falls into the public domain.
Combatting electronic piracy is an introduction to finding, identifying, and dealing with electronic pirates.
Recommendations on Amazon.com's "Search Inside the Book" feature
A discussion of Ellison v. Robertson, the "Napster for books" matter from the Ninth Circuit in which I served as lead counsel. This discussion also includes extensive links to case documents.

Off-Site Resources

The United States Library of Congress Copyright Office includes many valuable circulars and letters.
"Napster and Copyright Law", on GigaLaw, presents a fairly balanced perspective on this issue. You can find my brief article on remedies for internet piracy, including sample letters, at Moira Allen's WritingWorld.com, if you don't wish to consult the longer version on this site.
Answers to Patent, Copyright, Trademark Questions (University of Connecticut) is a decent start.

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—Charlie Petit
cepetit@scrivenerserror.com

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