Whenever possible, the holding institution or repository provides all known information about copyright owners and other restrictions in the information, or metadata, associated with digital items. The holding institution provides this information to assist users in determining the copyright status of an item. New York Heritage also provides a general copyright information statement on its website for users.
The nature of historical, archival and manuscript collections often make it difficult to determine the exact copyright status of an item. There are many issues related to copyright. There are several resources on the Internet that can help you to determine the copyright status of the materials in your collections:
- LibraryLaw.com focuses on legal issues of interest to libraries, such as copyright, privacy and the First Amendment.
- United States Copyright Office
- Copyright and Fair Use emphasizes copyright issues especially relevant to the education and library community, including examples of fair use and policies. Useful copyright charts and tools are continually added to help users evaluate copyright status and best practices.
- Cornell University Copyright Information Center has a tutorial section with high-quality online training materials.
- Columbia University Copyright Advisory Office has information on the copyright issues facing libraries.
- DPLA has published a white paper offering Recommendations for Standardized International Rights Statements
Using Copyright to Your Advantage!, October 10, 2011 (SCRLC CE materials)
- Presentation (pdf)
- Copyright Problem Analysis & Risk Assessment (pdf)
- Selected Copyright Statutes (pdf)
- Copyright 512 & 1201 (pdf)
- Copyright Compliance Q & A (pdf)
Copyright Resources:
- Flowchart for determining when U.S. Copyrights in Fixed Works Expire from Sunstein Kann Murphey and Timbers LLP (chart)
- When U.S. Works Pass into the Public Domain by Lolly Gasaway
- Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States by Peter Hirtle (chart, updated 1 January 2012)
- The Stanford Copyright and Fair Use Center
- International Copyright & Libraries