The Reanimation Library believes that the current iteration of copyright law is too restrictive and opaque. These are links to sites dedicated to explaining, defining, debating, and illuminating copyright law.

Stanford Copyright & Fair Use Center

This site, hosted by Stanford University, is a tremendous copyright resource. It has a thorough overview of copyright and fair use as well as a section devoted to tracking current copyright legislation, a web guide, and a section specifically for librarians.

Stanford Copyright Renewal Database

Stanford's Copyright Renewal 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.

The University of Texas System Crash Course in Copyright

A site from the University of Texas which has an overview of both copyright and fair use in addition to many relevant copyright links. More specific sections include "Creating Multimedia," "Copyright in Digital Libraries," "Copyright Management," "Licensing Resources," and "Online Presentations."

The Association of Research Libraries Copyright & Intellectual Property Policies Page

This portal from ARL provides access to a number of copyright-related issues, including orphan works, Fair Use legislation and Digital Rights Management, among others.

Intellectual Property Issues from the Negativland Website

Built and maintained by Negativland, this site features essays, links to artist-friendly lawyers, and plenty of anti-copyright links. It is a resource brought to us from artists who have seen the front lines of the copyright wars.

Creative Commons

A non-profit institution dedicated to introducing a middle ground into the either/or legal nature of copyright law. Creative Commons was founded in 2001 with the support of the Center for the Public Domain. It is led by authorities in cyberlaw, intellectual property, computer science, and filmmaking, such as James Boyle, Michael Carroll, Molly Shaffer Van Houweling, Lawrence Lessig, Hal Abelson, Eric Saltzman, Davis Guggenheim, Joi Ito, and Eric Eldred.

Center for the Public Domain

The Center for the Public Domain is a philanthropic foundation based in Durham, North Carolina. Through grant making, original research, conferences, and collaborative programs, the Center seeks to call attention to the importance of the public domain and spur effective, practical solutions and responses. Its work is animated by the conviction that new legal regimes, social institutions and transparent technologies must be created to fortify the information commons. The Center for the Public Domain is enthusiastically committed to this mission -- and to the use of innovative philanthropy and catalytic leadership to secure the future of the public domain.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act Archive at The Electronic Frontier Foundation

This archive tracks legislation and litigation surrounding the DMCA from a leading authority in the field of electronic freedom. Based in San Francisco, the Electronic Frontier Foundation is a donor-supported membership organization working to protect our fundamental rights regardless of technology; to educate the press, policymakers and the general public about civil liberties issues related to technology; and to act as a defender of those liberties. Among our various activities, EFF opposes misguided legislation, initiates and defends court cases preserving individuals' rights, launches global public campaigns, introduces leading edge proposals and papers, hosts frequent educational events, engages the press regularly, and publishes a comprehensive archive of digital civil liberties information at their site.

The Fair Use Network

How much can you borrow, quote or copy from someone else's work? What happens if you get a "cease and desist" letter from a copyright owner? These and many other questions make "intellectual property," or "IP," law, a mass of confusion for artists, scholars, journalists, bloggers, and everyone else who contributes to culture and political debate.

The Fair Use Network was created because of the many questions that artists, writers, and others have about "IP" issues. Whether you are trying to understand your own copyright or trademark rights, or are a "user" of materials created by others, the information here will help you understand the system — and especially its free-expression safeguards.

If you have received a "cease and desist" letter from a copyright or trademark owner, or a notice from your Internet service provider about a "takedown" letter, you'll also find useful information on this site.

Public Knowledge

Public Knowledge is a group of lawyers, technologists, lobbyists, academics, volunteers and activists dedicated to fortifying and defending a vibrant information commons.

The Free Expression Project

The Free Expression Policy Project (FEPP), founded in 2000, provides research and advocacy on free speech, copyright, and media democracy issues. In May 2004, FEPP became part of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. FEPP's primary areas of inquiry are:

Restrictions on publicly funded expression - in libraries, museums, schools, universities, and arts and humanities agencies;

Internet filters, rating systems, and other measures that restrict access to information and ideas in the digital age;

Restrictive copyright laws, digital rights management, and other imbalances in the "intellectual property" system;

Mass media consolidation, public access to the airwaves, and other issues of media democracy;

Censorship designed to "shield" adolescents and children from controversial art, information, and ideas.

The United States Copyright Office

Need we say more? This is the one that the big boys run.