Research Guides: Open Resources in Alcohol Studies: Copyright

What is Copyright?

Copyright basics:

It is based on the principle of respecting the copyright owner, the person who created the work.
Just because you own a copy of the book, CD, poster, art work, or film doesn't mean you have the right to make copies of the material. The purchase of the item only means that you own a personal copy. Making reproductions to sell most likely is not within your rights.

What works are protected?

Most original works are protected by copyright. The U.S. Copyright law places copyrightable works in the following broad categories:

Literary works
Musical works, including any accompanying words
Dramatic works, including any accompanying music
Pantomimes and choreographic works
Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
Motion pictures and other audiovisual works
Sound recordings
Architectural works

Copyright

Copyright Guidance (for Rutgers University Faculty, Students, and Staff)
"Provides guidance to faculty, students, and staff on Rutgers policy and practice for using copyrighted works in academic research and publication, teaching, and other educational activity. It also offers guidance on copyright law as it applies to works that we create as authors, artists, scholars, teachers, and students."
Copyright.com
Home page of the Copyright Clearance Center, which provides licensing systems for the reproduction and distribution of copyrighted materials throughout the world.
Copyright Renewals
Searchable index of the copyright renewal records for books published in the US between 1923 and 1963. Note that the database includes only renewal records, not original registrations, and only Class A (book) renewals received by the US Copyright Office between 1950 and 1992.
Copyright Term and the Public Domain
A chart detailing when published and unpublished works from the U.S. and from outside the U.S. pass into the public domain.
Is it Protected by Copyright?
An interactive guide to the copyright status of works first published in the United States.
State Copyright Resource Center
An attempt to "identify the relevant laws and legal sources that affect the copyright status of government documents" from each of the 50 states.
U.S. Copyright Office
Includes general and legal information, forms, and a searchable database of copyright registration information and recorded documents from 1978 to the present.
WATCH: Writers, Artists, and Their Copyright Holders
Founded as a resource principally for copyright questions about literary manuscripts held in the U.S. and the U.K., the database includes copyright contacts for writers, artists, and prominent figures in other creative fields.

Copyright and Fair Use

The Fair Use limitation enable uses of copyrighted works without prior permission or payment of a royalty. In determining that the use made of a work is a fair use, we need to consider the following:

Purpose the character of use: education, research, transformative use, non-commercial use
Nature of the copyrighted work: published, informational, nonfictional
Amount of portion of work used from the copyrighted work: small portion, non-essential portion
Effect: no major effect on market or potential market for work

The American Library Association maintains the research guide Copyright for Libraries - Fair Use