Intellectual Property Tools
by
Ainslee Schreiber & Song Gao

A. U.S. Statutes

Copyright law is primarily derived from the U.S. Constitution and federal statutes. However, many states have various statutes regarding copyright protection. Therefore, this evaluation will concentrate on federal statutes, specifically the Copyright Act of 1976. The Internet has numerous accesses to the U.S. Code. The only factors to consider is the inclusion of Title 17, the copyright section and how often the page is updated. But, updating can still be done through the pocket parts.

Sites include:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17. This includes a full text of Title 17 of the U.S. Code. The last update was July, 1996. An internal search is available, and the title is separated by chapter and subject. Furthermore, most copyright sites link to the Cornell site.

http://www.lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/cpy.wel.html. This is the U.S. Copyright Office home page. It accesses the full text of Title 17 of the U.S. Code and the Copyright Act of 1976.

http://www.mmwire.com/copyright/act.html. Selected text of the Copyright Act of 1976.

http://law.house.gov/usc.htm. The U.S. House of Representative homepage allows for an internal search of the U.S. Code and provides a U.S. Code classification table. Furthermore, it accesses state statutes.

http://www.lawnet.net/text1.html. Full access to state legislative history and statutes for all states.

http://www.fac.org. Access to all State constitutions, codes, regulations, statutes, and bills.

B. Case Law:

Case Law is throughout the Internet, but most sites editorialize the cases. It is still best to read the cases. Best method is still the books.

Relevant Sites:

http://www.law.vill.edu. This site accesses Supreme Court decisions, Federal Court opinion and rules.

http://www.infolawalert.com. Access to case law concerning computer and intellectual property law.

http://www.findlaw.com. This site provides access to an index of legal resources, federal and state.

http://www.einet.net. This sites tracks law reviews and various case law.

C. Regulations and Registration Information:

The Internet is the best source for regulations and registration information. Sending away to the Library of Congress for forms can be slow and time-consuming. Considering that these sites also help one fill out a form, the Internet is the best bet.

Sites include:

http://rep.edge.net:80/cright/cright2.html. BMI.com's forms online. These include copyright forms PA (Performing Art), SR (Sound Recording), TX (Text), RE (Renewal), and CA (Corrections on past registration). These forms may be downloaded off the Acrobat Reader. Furthermore, BMI gives information which guides the filling out of such forms.

http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/. The Copyright Office developed the CORDS System (Copyright Office Electronic Registration, Recordation, and Deposit System). Through the Internet, anyone can register their copyrighted work. Also, the Copyright Office discloses information circulars, forms, Copyright Office Records and Announcements (including Federal Regulations).

http://law.house.gov/usc.htm. The U.S. House of Representatives allows one to search the Federal Register and Code of Federal Regulations.

D. Copyright Information Generally:

Sites Include:

http://www.netrights.com. Private company located in Lebanon, New Hampshire. It's goal is to aid multimedia owners, creators, developers, and publishers. Links to American Association of Publishers, various news articles, papers, and links. Links to the cornell site, house cite, copyright clearance centers, President's Information Infrastructure task force, the Creative Incentive Coalition, registration information, and image archives.

http://www.batnet.com:80/oikoumene/mmlinks.html. Multimedia Law Repositories & Related Links. This sites links to copyright clearinghouses and several associations and organizations which address legal issues in the multimedia industry.

http://www.benedict.com/home/htm. The Copyright Website. It includes information on copyright registration, general copyright legal information (public domain, fair use), links to citations and resources, and side by side comparison of famous copyright infringement cases. The infringement page has full audio capacity. Also, a brief summary of the case is included as well as the case cite.

To find out if a work is copyrighted, one must conduct a search. If the work is copyrighted, one must ask permission from the copyright owner to use that work. Traditionally, searching has taken a lot of time. Depending on the industry, searching and permission could be a slow, expensive process. For example, in the publishing industry, one must find the publisher of the work, write to the publisher with all the relevant information, and hope that permission would be granted. Now with the Internet, much of the time and frustration has been eliminated. Although publishers do not have available permission information on-line, most other industries do. Perhaps, this is the best means to search for a copyright. It takes less time and paper, plus the results are immediate, and the sources are the same as if one were dealing directly with the company.

A. General Searching

To search for a copyright work in general, a variety of sources are available.

Sites include:

http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/licrsrcs.htm. This site gives a general outline of the steps to searching and permissions through licensing resources. Relevant Title 17 sections are included, recent court cases, and links to copyright clearance centers. Also included is a full link section to image archives of organizations that represent image creators.

http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/. The United States Copyright Office, The Library of Congress home page. This site provides online searching of some copyright registrations and may perform a professional search for a fee.

B. Entertainment Industry

The entertainment industry is divided into several sub industries. For this evaluation, the three major industries: publishing, music, and film will be discussed. One can always search using these sites, but to receive permission, one must form an account with the company.

1. Publishing Sites Include:

http://www.webcom.com/registry. The Author's Registry site allows authors to register their works with them. No internal search of existing copyrighted works is available. The Author's Registry is a permissions clearinghouse to give non-exclusive licenses, and collect and distribute the royalties from those licenses.

http://www.copyright.com/ccc_pages.html. The Copyright Clearance Center home page allows individuals to search for copyrighted textual works and receive a blanket license for them. It divides the search catalogs by type of license and individual or corporation seeking such a license.

2. Music Sites Include:

http://bmi.com. BMI provides an internal search and license application. One is able to search current issues and read BMI's quarterly magazine, MusicWorld, which refers to legislative updates.

http://ascap.com/search.html. ASCAP provides an internal search and license application. One is able to search current issues (winter 1997) and access legislative updates and member listings.

http://nmpa.org/hfa/1-mech.html. The Harry Fox Agency grants mechanical licenses (license to download or fix into another form). It includes internal song search and license application.

3. Film Sites Include:

http://www.mplc.com/. The Motion Picture Licensing Corporation grants umbrella license to individuals and organizations for public performances of hoe videocassettes. It also provides the relevant section of Title 17 of the U.S. Code.

C. Computer Industry:

Because of the U.S. trade secret laws and concept of fair use via reverse engineering, searching for specific copyrighted software is difficult if not impossible. Although, no searchable software databases were found, some organizations give help.

Sites Include:

http://www.spa.org. Software Publisher's Association. This site discusses current issues in copyright for the computer industry. It also links to various resources such as organizations, law schools, and computer web pages.

Although the Internet is a valuable resource for publicity, many of these organizations and law firms have valuable legal information. The Internet is a fast and easy way to access a lot of information. If one wants to find an attorney, simply look on the Web (although the web does not rate the attorneys, stick to Martindale-Hubble for that). If you want to find newsletters or organizations, the Web is the best, most efficient means. Through it's search engines, thousands of organizations are listed. To search these every industry catalog for copyright, it would be over 5 catalogs in entertainment alone. Add onto that the computer industry. The Internet saves time and aggravation.

A. Law Firms:

Law firms market themselves everyday on the Internet. It seems that the Internet has become a 24-hour commercial. Wisely, these firms attract clients by disseminating some knowledge and offering their services. Intellectual Property attorneys are wise to do this because many intellectual property clients are avid Internet users, being that both require extensive technical knowledge.

Sites include:

http://www.hg.org/. This site (Hieros Gamos) provides access to thousands of copyright-related papers, organizations, discussion groups, seminars, newsletters, and links.

http://www.laig.com/law.entlaw/rdmap0.htm. This site (Harris Tulchin law firm) provides access to entertainment lawyers and businessmen, especially producers for film and tv. Furthermore, it links to government sites and law journals/magazines.

http://seamless.com/. This site contains references to lawyers and legal associations.

http://www.4patent.com/copyapp.htm. This database provides registration forms and allows one to receive a free copyright application booklet.

http://www.patentlawyer.com/curt/. Law Offices of Curtis L. Harrington home page which posts charges for copyrighting a work. An example of how a law firm uses key word searching to be accessed. This lawyer used computer.

http://www.ior.commalhotra/copy.html. Wells, St. John, Roberts, Gregory & Matkin P.S. homepage informs about basic copyright protection. Like many attorney home pages it lures potential clients by giving brief descriptions and reasons for copyright.

http://www.himels-computer-law.com/. Complete copyright page by David B. Himelstein, Esq. Links to Copyright Office. This attorney uses "copyright attorney" "computer attorney", and "intellectual property" as key search terms. Also, he lists clients on his page. Therefore, if one were to search for the client's company, his page would turn up as well.

B. Newsletters:

Newsletters can be easily accessed from the Web. But, it is easier to research Periodicals in Print or Newsletters in Print for 1997. Print versions include a full coverage of various newsletters. However, the Internet cuts time on looking through each newsletter for relevant topics because newsletters generally do not have indexes.

Sites include:

gopher://arl.cni.org/11scomm/copyright/newsletr. This gopher server accesses ARL which concern fair use, copyright reform, and developments in the court.

http://www.einet.net/galaxy/Law.html. This site accesses legal organizations, periodicals, articles, books, and directories. Heavily indexed with copyright subject.

C. Law Schools:

Many law schools have jumped on the intellectual property bandwagon. In turn, law school libraries have devoted extensive pages to researching intellectual property law. As such, the Internet is a good resource as no print version lists intellectual property law schools, except for the U.S. World & News Report which is an annual publication.

Relevant sites include:

http://www.piercelaw.edu. Franklin Pierce Law Center has an intellectual property mall including articles, web annotations, past exams, and related intellectual property links. Because this is an intellectual property law school, it has credible information.

http://www.commlaw.com/pepper/elsewhere.html. Links to Indiana University, Washburn University, University of Richmond, UCLA, University of Arkansas, and Chicago-Kent College of Law. These are all law schools with a media-related or technology-related database. Example: University of Richmond has the Journal of Law & Technology.

http://www.music.indiana.edu/tech_s/mla/legcom/copyhome.htm. This is Indiana University's "Guide to Copyright for Music Librarians" homepage. It accesses government sites, organizations, and clearinghouses.

http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/. Stanford University's homepage which lists a separate section for copyright and intellectual property. Text of the Copyright Act, case law, and practitioners.

http://www.ucc.uconn.edu/95001/. University of Connecticut's home page which gives brief explanation of copyright law and section devoted to intellectual property news.

http://www.cudenver.edu/cchen/arahant/info/. University of Denver's home page which offers copyright information, access to the Library of Congress, and how to copyright software.

D. Organizations:

Organizations can be a great help on the web. In this case, copyright organizations totally devote themselves to copyright issues. News is fairly current, and their members access lists of available web sites.

Sites include:

http://host.mpa.org/. Music Publishers' Association includes a copyright resource center.

http://www.rcfp.org/rcfp/. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press accesses media lawyers and current news.

http://www.dnai.com/~pzender/index.html. Multimedia/Entertainment Industry Law & Business Information Center accesses legal resouces.

http://arl.cni.org/info/frn/copy/copytoc.html. Association of Research Libraries provides a copyright timeline, news, newsletters, gopher services, and statutory references.

LIFECYCLE OF A COPYRIGHT

The LifeCycle Approach means exactly what it says: research the life of a copyright. A copyright is born through registration, both federally and by state. To federally register, the appropriate form may be requested from the Library of Congress. After the form is filled out, a copy along with a sample of the work and a check in the amount of $20.00 is sent to the Copyright Office. Registration forms may be requested from the Copyright Office or downloaded from the Internet. Note that some databases like http://www.benedict.com provide the forms as well as instructions for filling out the forms.

Next, a copyright is searched. What if you want to use copyrighted material in your work? Several licensing societies liek BMI and ASCAP have home pages. These societies allow you to search for a copyrighted work, see who the publisher is, and then apply for a license to use that work (of course, you must set up an account with them first; this is also provided on their home page).

If you choose not to ask for permission, then case law concerning infringement must be researched. Law firms and Law schools provide the best access and most accurate information on the Internet. But, be wary. Most of the references to case law are editorialized meaning that they are in the form of factual summary and legal analysis. Actual opinions may be accessed only through limited sources like http://www.law.vill.edu.

Lastly, newsletters and practitioners may be listed in major copyright databases such as the Copyright Website at http://www.benedict.com/home/htm, and http://www.netrights.com/IPSites.html#CopyrightLaw.

Researching the Law

Federal State

http://www.law.vill.edu

Access to Supreme Court decisions, Federal Court opinions and rules.

Provides access to an index of legal resources, federal and state.

Access to case law concerning computer and intellectual property law.

Tracks law reviews and various case law.

Full text of U.S.C. Title 17. Internal Search.

Full access to state legislative history and statutes for all states.

Selected text of the Copyright Act of 1976.

Access to all State constitutions, codes, regulations, statutes, and bills.

U.S. Copyright Office home page. Access to Title 17 of U.S.C., Copyright Act of 1976.

The Constitution. Cites to relevant copyright provision. Similar to lawnet, except state constitutions and home pages are listed.

Access to U.S. fed and state constitutions.

Access to Copyright Office information circulars, Copyright Office records and announcements.

SEARCHING/PERMISSIONS

http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/licrsrcs.htm

Includes statutory references, recent court cases, update legislation, current news, and full advice and links to licensing in the entertainment industry, including photography and image archives as well as the software industry.

List of names and addresses of copyright holders.

Publishing

http://www.webcom.com/registry

The Author's Registry allows authors to register their works with them. No internal search.

The Copyright Clearance Center offers an experimental online permission service and an academic permission service.

Music

http://bmi.com

BMI provides an internal search and license application. You are able to search current issues and read BMI's quarterly magazine, MusicWorld, which refers to legislative updates.

ASCAP provides an internal search and license application. You are able to search current issues (Winter 1997) and access legislative updates and member listings.

Harry Fox Agency which grants mechanical licenses (license to download or fix into another form). Includes internal song search and license application.

Film

http://www.mplc.com

The MPLC, Motion Picture Licensing Corp., provides umbrella licenses for video showings. License applications are provided along with information on penalties.

Computer Industry

Note that because of the U.S. trade secret laws and concept of fair use via reverse engineering, searching for specific copyright software is difficult if not impossible. However, there are some organizations which give some help.

• Business Software Alliance
• Software Publisher's Association
  • http://www.spa.org
• Interactive Digital Software Association

MARKETING

http://www.hg.org/

This site (Hieros Gamos) provides access to thousands of copyright-related papers, organisations, discussion groups, seminars, newletters, and links.

http://www.laig.com/law/entlaw/rdmap0.htm

This site (Harris Tulchin law firm) provides access to entertainment lawyers and businessmen, especially producers for film and tv. Furthermore, it links to government site and law journals and magazines.

http://seamless.com/

This site contains references to lawyers and legal associations.

http://www.4patent.com/copyapp.htm

Database providing registration to receive free coyright application booklet.

1. Key search terms connect to attorneys
2. Search engines divided into newsletter and subject sections.

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