Copyright Guidelines (L1.a)

Required Copyright Statement

In order to include a digital object in HDR, we need to know who the copyright owner is and what the permissions are to be granted to users of the material being submitted. If the copyright of the digital object is not held by you by Hamilton College, we need to have assurance hat you have been given permission by the copyright holder to submit it to the College's repository for the uses described in your <Collection Proposal Form>.

How to tell if something is in the public domain?

  • It is in the public domain if...

    • it was published before 1923 and its copyright was not renewed

    • if it was unpublished and the author died before 1935

    • if it was transferred to deed of gift

  • If an item's copyright is held by Hamilton College, we can distribute it in any way we want or place restrictions on its use.

How do I investigate the Copyright Status of a Work?

  • Check the "Copyright Renewal Database"
    <http://collections.stanford.edu/copyrightrenewals/bin/page?forward=home>
    This database makes searchable the copyright renewal records received by the US Copyright Office between 1950 and 1993 for books published in the US between 1923 and 1963.

  • See the Library of Congress' Copyright Office Web site -- especially Circular 22 on "How to Investigate the Copyright Status of a Work" <http://www.copyright.gov/circs/> (accessed May 16, 2008).
    See also the links to "Copyright Licensing Organizations & Publications Rights Clearinghouses" on its "Copyright Internet Resources" page <http://www.copyright.gov/resces.html> .]

  • "Orphan Works: Statement of Best Practices" (Society of American Archivists) "Orphan works" is a term used to describe the situation in which the owner of a copyrighted work cannot be identified and located by someone who wishes to make use of the work in a manner that requires permission of the copyright owner. <http://www.archivists.org/standards/>

  • The University of Texas prepared a helpful list of "Collective Rights Organizations" that you can contact for help with clearing copyright for an object <http://copyright.lib.utexas.edu/permissn.html> (accessed May 16, 2008).

What can I do if I cannot determine the copyright status?

If you cannot determine if an object is free of copyright restrictions, you must provide a detailed account that shows clear intent to obtain permission to digitize and disseminate the object for educational purposes.

Music

Almost anything to do with music is protected by intellectual property rights. Distribution of music must have the artist's permission and if requested by the artist a royalty payment may have to be paid. "A Guide to Copyright for Music Librarians" is available at <http://copyright.musiclibraryassoc.org/> (accessed April 11, 2012).

Glossary

Copyright – The legal protection for creators of original works that grants exclusive rights to such creators to display the work or ti perform the work publicly, to reproduce the work and to distribute the work.

Fair Use – A legal provision that allows limited reproduction of a work without requiring permission from the copyright holders, such as use for educational or scholarly use or for review.

Public Domain – These are works that are not copyright protected. They may be freely used by everyone.

Copyright Resources

10 big myths about copyright explained, by Brad Templeton (HTML)
<http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html> (accessed May 16, 2008)

Best Practices for Locating Copyright Owners of Photographic and Visual Art (HTML)
<Locating Copyright Owners>, 7/8/08.v2 - American Society of Picture Professionals (accessed December 21, 2010)

Library Copyright Alliance
<http://www.librarycopyrightalliance.org/> (accessed August 22, 2011)

Center for Intellectual Property (Univ. of Maryland University College)
<http://www.umuc.edu/distance/odell/cip/cip.shtml> (accessed May 16, 2008)

Copyright and Art Issues, by Christine L. Sundt, Web site Last updated May 22, 2003
This site compiles valuable web resources on copyright and the visual arts, including all the current information from the NINCH Town Meetings through 2003.
<http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~csundt/copyweb/> (accessed May 16, 2008)

Copyright Basics (Circular 1, Library of Congress)
<http://www.copyright.gov/circs/> (accessed May 16, 2008)

Copyright Issues for Digitization Projects (An Infopeople workshop, August 2005)
<http://infopeople.org/training/past/2005/dig-copyright/> (accessed May 16, 2008)

Copyright resources for schools and libraries (Wisconsin. Department of Public Instruction
<http://dpi.state.wi.us/lbstat/copyres.html> (accessed May 16, 2008)

Copyright term and the public domain in the United States (by Peter B. Hirtle of Cornell Libraries)
<http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm> (accessed December 21, 2010)
<http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/training/copyrightterm.pdf> (accessed May 16, 2008)
<http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/> (Cornell Copyright Information Center)

Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for Digitization for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, by Peter B. Hirtle, Emily Hudson, and Andrew T. Kenyon (Cornell University Library)
<http://ecommons.library.cornell.edu/handle/1813/14142> (accessed October 30, 2009)

Creative Commons
<http://creativecommons.org/> (accessed May 16, 2008)
provides free tools that let authors, scientists, artists, and educators easily mark their creative work with the freedoms they want it to carry

Digital Best Practices: Rights & Permissions to Publish Digital Collections (Washington State Library)
<http://digitalwa.statelib.wa.gov/newsite/collection/rights.htm> (accessed September 15, 2008)

Flowchart for determining when U.S. Copyrights in fixed works expire (HTML)
<http://www.bromsun.com/practices/copyright-portfolio-development/flowchart.htm> (accessed May 16, 2008)

How I Learned to Love FAIR USE... or how to bring a $300,000 lawsuit down to $0 if you're a library, archive, or nonprofit educational institution (by Mary Minow, J.D.i A.M.L.S.)
<http://fairuse.stanford.edu/ commentary_and_analysis/2003_07_minow.html> (accessed May 16, 2008)

Image Collection Guidelines: The Acquisition and Use of Images in Non-Profit Educational Visual Resources Collections (published by the VRA Committee on Intellectual Property Rights)
<http://www.vraweb.org/resources/ipr/guidelines.html> (accessed May 16, 2008)

Library Digitization Projects: U.S. Copyrighted Works that have Exp red into the Public Domain, by Mary Minow (April 15, 2004)
<http://www.librarylaw.com/DigitizationTable.htm> (accessed May 16, 2008)
A table showing when items enter into the public domain.

Library Digitization Projects and Copyright, by Mary Minow, June 28, 2002 (LLRX)
<http://www.llrx.com/features/digitization.htm> (accessed May 16, 2008)

Liblicense: A site to provide tools and education about licensing electronic products.
<htsp://www.library.yale.edu/~llicense/index.shtml> (accessed May 16, 2008)

The Section 108 Study Group.
<http://www.section108.gov/> (accessed October 2, 2008)
Executive Summary, <http://www.section108.gov/docs/Sec108ExecSum.pdf>

When U.S. Works Pass into the Public Domain, by Lolly Gasaway (UNC)
<http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/public-d.htm> (accessed May 16, 2008)

WIPO Guide on Managing Intellectual Property for Museums
<http://www.wipo.int/copyright/en/museums_ip/guide.html> (accessed May 16, 2008)

WorldCat Copyright Evidence Registry
<http://www.worldcat.org/copyrightevidence> (accessed August 26, 2008)
Users can search the Copyright Evidence Registry to find information about a book, learn what others have said about its copyright status, and share what they know.

IP Resources (Intellectual Property SIG of the Museum Computer Network)
<http://www.mcn.edu/ipsig-resources> (accessed December 21, 2010)

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(Updated: May 6, 2008, December 21, 2010, pjm)