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Posted by: Holland Gormley
The following is a guest post by Marilyn Creswell, 2020 Librarian-in-Residence for the U.S. Copyright Office. Sojourner Truth was a preacher, abolitionist, and suffragist. A lesser known fact is that she was also a copyright innovator. Truth was born in New York around 1797. Enslaved during her youth and early adulthood, she eventually gained freedom …
Posted in: Copyright, education, historical, Uncategorized
Posted by: Holland Gormley
I have a confession to make. I made it all the way through a BFA in photography without knowing what exactly copyright was or what it meant for me and my work. It’s not that my professors did anything wrong. They were inspiring, wonderful, and talented creators. It’s never too late to learn though. All …
Posted in: Copyright, Uncategorized
Posted by: Holland Gormley
The following is a guest post by Paul Capel, Supervisory Records Management Section Head. The United States Copyright Office holds the most comprehensive collection of copyright records in the world. The Office has over 200,000 boxes of deposit copies spread among three storage facilities in Landover, Maryland; a contracted space in Pennsylvania; and the National …
Posted in: Copyright, Uncategorized
Posted by: Holland Gormley
June is Pride Month, and this year is the 50th anniversary of the first pride parade in New York City. What do copyright and pride have in common? Quite a bit, actually. Where would our celebrations, our heroes, and our increasing understanding of advocacy and allyship be without posters and speeches? Literature? Zines? Given that, …
Posted in: Copyright, LGBTQ, Uncategorized
Posted by: Holland Gormley
The following is a guest post by Regan A. Smith, General Counsel and Associate Register of Copyrights. The Music Modernization Act (MMA) is a historic overhaul to the nation’s music copyright laws. As you may already know, the law creates a new blanket license covering the reproduction and distribution of musical works, to be administered …
Posted in: Uncategorized
Posted by: Holland Gormley
You may have already heard about the Music Modernization Act, or the MMA for short. But do you know how the law will affect the way you get paid?
Posted in: legislation, music, Uncategorized, Website
Posted by: Holland Gormley
The following is a guest post by David Welkowitz, attorney-advisor in the Office of the General Counsel. As the spread of COVID-19 causes schools—particularly colleges and universities—to switch to distance education, it is a good time to review an important part of the educational landscape: copyright. Don’t let the word copyright alarm you; copyright law …
Posted in: Copyright, fair use, legislation, Uncategorized
Posted by: Holland Gormley
You may have heard that the Supreme Court recently confirmed that you are required to register a U.S. work before you can file a lawsuit alleging that someone has infringed the copyright in the work. But what do you do if you applied to register the work and the Copyright Office refused your application?
Posted in: Copyright, Registration
Posted by: Holland Gormley
Many creative works are protected by copyright. Learn which ones may be protected, and what to do if you feel your idea has been taken.
Posted in: Copyright, Uncategorized, video