R.A.R.I.N. LAW & LEGISLATION

Orphaned works: Copyrighted works whose owners are difficult or even impossible to locate Dated Info

• Email sent to the MUSIP listserve, RCAAM listserv, MCN and Museum-L on March 26, 2005
• Comment sent to US Copyright office by Guggenheim Museum, The Getty and the Metropolitan Museum on March 25, 2005 (pdf file)
• Letter of Support sent to Copyright Office by Los Angeles County Museum of Art on March 25, 2005 (good model for use by others - but must be sent by May 9, 2005)

The United States Copyright Office

This site includes links to the following information:

• Copyright Basics
• Registration Procedures
• Copyright Records
• Copyright Office FAQ
• Freedom of Information Act
• Copyright Law
• Federal Regulations
• New/Pending Legislation
• International Copyright
• WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization)
• Federal Register Notices
• Press Releases
• Related Resources
• GPO Access (Federal Documents)

Also on this site the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act available as a pdf file (you must have Acrobat reader installed), the DMCA was signed into law on October 28, 1998. It includes five "Titles" as follows:

• Title I WIPO Copyright and Performances and Phonograms Treaties Implementation Act of 1998
• Title II Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act
• Title III Computer maintenance Competition Assurance Act
• Title IV six miscellaneous provisions of particular interest are those relating to distance education, the exception in the copyright act for libraries and for making ephemeral recordings, and "webcasting" of sound recordings on the Internet.
• Title V Vessel Hull Design Protection Act

International Resources

International Directory of Rights and Reproductions organizations  

Copyright Clearance Center (US)   

UNESCO - collection of international copyright laws online

October 2003 changes to UK copyright law - FAQ's

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