COPYRIGHT GURU LINKS

Copyright Law

Copyright Statutes & Regulations

• U.S. Copyright Act - The current Copyright Law of the United States and Related Laws Contained in Title 17 of the United States Code including amendments.
• U.S. Copyright Regulations - Code of Federal Regulations
• Recent U.S. Copyright Legislation
• Berne Convention
• WIPO Copyright Treaty

U.S. Copyright Office Links

• United States Copyright Office
• Information Circulars
• U.S. Copyright Registration Forms
• Registration Fee Schedule
• Copyright Office Online Search

Fair Use Information

• Fair Use of Copyrighted Materials
• IP Watchdog Fair Use Page
• Stanford Fair Use Center
• Bitlaw Fair Use Page 

Miscellaneous Copyright Links

• Copyright Clearance Center
• Pirated-sites.com - examples of websites that look like other websites
• The Church Musician and the Copyright Law
• Copyright For Music Librarians
• Chilling Effects Provides information on the tension between copyright and free speech in the online environment
• Edward Samuels' Site - Samuels is the author of The Illustrated Story of Copyright which explains the provisions of copyright law while providing many photos and illustrations of technological devices used to reproduce and distribute copyrighted works. The book can be purchased from the site, which also contains articles, information on copyright cases, etc.   

Trademark Law

• U.S. Patent & Trademark Office
• U.S. Federal Trademark Law
• U.S. Federal Trademark Registration Search
• Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure

Patent Law

• U.S. Patent Office - Information on patents & an online patent application filing system.
• Free Patents Online - Useful site to search for U.S. patents. For amusement, check out the Crazy Patent list.

Trade Secrets Law

• Trade Secret Law (Findlaw)
• Trade Secrets Basic FAQ (Nolo)
• Trade Secrets Homepage (Mark Halligan)
• Economic Espionage Act (18 USC 1831 et seq)
• Theft of Commercial Trade Secrets (Dept. of Justice)

Intellectual Property Organizations

• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
• Intellectual Property Alliance
• Copyright Society of the USA
• The Copyright Assembly - A group made up of copyright owners such as professional and amateur sports organizations, cable and network broadcast stations, record companies, software developers, etc. Works to ensure strong enforcement of copyright and to fight piracy.
• Association for the Protection of Internet Copyright - A non-profit membership organization dedicated to the continued education and enforcement of Internet copyright law. Members include photographers, distributors of video, film, literature and other intellectual property, movie producers, musicians, record producers, and publishers.
• Home Recording Right Coalition - Organization dedicated to protecting consumers' rights to make home recordings for private, non-commercial use.
• International Trademark Association - An association of trademark owners and professionals dedicated to the advancements of trademarks and related intellectual property
• Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) - Trade association for owners of patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets which advocates effective and affordable IP ownership rights, analyzes current IP issues, and provides information to the public on the importance of intellectual property rights.
• American Bar Association Section of Intellectual Property Law
• American Intellectual Property Law Association
• Center For The Public Domain

Intellectual Property Blogs

• Berkeley IP Blog
• www.copyfight.org
• Furdlog
• Grep.law
• Information Commons
• Law Meme
• Lessig Blog
• Weatherall's Law
• LawPundit

Domain Names & Registration

• Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Number (ICANN) - A non-profit corporation responsible for the IP address space allocation, and domain name system management.
• List of Top-Level Domains
• ICANN Watch
• Domain Name Handbook
• UDRPlaw.net
• UDRPinfo.com  

Entertainment Industry Trade Organizations

Music

• Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)
• National Music Publishers Association (NMPA)
• The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI)
• National Association of Recording Industry Professionals (NARIP)

Movies

• Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)

Software

• Business Software Alliance (BSA)
• Software Publishers Association

Music Industry Trade Organizations

The Recording Academy (NARAS) - The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS) is a membership organization ($100 a year dues) made up of musicians and other professionals involved in the music industry (songwriters, producers, managers, attorneys, etc.) and is best known for the Grammy Awards. It also sponsors many educational and charity events.

The Songwriters Guild (SGA) - The SGA is, as its name indicates, a membership organization made up of and representing the interests of songwriters, both professional and amateur. The SGA has chapters in different areas and conducts seminars on songwriting and the songwriting/music publishing business.

The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) - NSAI is a membership organization made up of and representing the interests of songwriters, both professional and amateur. NSAI has chapters in different areas and conducts seminars on songwriting and the songwriting/music publishing business.

Music Licensing Organizations

Mechanical Rights Organizations

• Harry Fox Agency

Performance Rights Organizations

• American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP)
• Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI)
• SESAC

Sound Recordings

• Sound Exchange

Other Legal Information

• Law School List
• Law Organizations
• Lawyer Jokes  
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• Findlaw's Legislation Search - Search for bills in the U.S. Senate & House of Representatives

Music Business Websites

• The Velvet Rope Forum
• Recording Artists Coalition (RAC) - RAC is an organization which represents the interests of professional recording artists, primarily by lobbying the government and informing the public.
• Charts All Over The World
• Muse's Muse - Songwriting site
• Music Business Journal - A very useful site focused on global issues in the music industry. Contains articles, links to other online resources, news, etc.
• BMI's Music Publishing Glossary
• Songwriter Universe -  Provides lots of useful articles & resources for songwriters; Also offers message boards where you can ask questions and a Song & CD evaluation service for a reasonable fee.
• Radio-locator.com - Find radio stations all over the world.
• Circle of Songs - Developing and distributing top quality music worldwide.

Copyright-Related Humor (For those of you who don't think there's anything funny about copyright, take a look at these sites)

• Napster Cartoons
• Camp Chaos' Napster Bad Animated Cartoons - Extremely clever and hilarious animations featuring Metallica band members fighting against Napster and file sharing (Warning: These animations contain explicit language - watch at your own risk).
• Copyright Royalties on Pencils?

Miscellaneous

• Refdesk.com - An extremely useful website which contains all kinds of references including dictionaries (regular & legal), thesaurus, news links, search engines, etc.
• Glossary of Internet Terms
• Findlaw's Elected Officials Search - Find out who your elected officials are (Senators, Representatives, Governors, local representatives)
• Findlaw's Media Guide - Search for newspapers, TV stations in your area
• Berkleemusic.com - Online music school for the continuing education and music career network from Berklee College of Music.
• Columbia Law Library Music Copyright Infringement Online Archive - A great site which archives information on copyright infringement lawsuits involving music including court decisions, musical scores, sound files for comparison.