Copyright is the wild west. You need the right tools to survive a treacherous, rough territory.
Top Tools for addressing copyright, Fair Use, digitization & publication questions:
Use the Duration of Copyright Chart to visually see how long copyright will last based on date of publication.
Use the Master Flowchart for Evaluating Copyright Status for works published between 1923 and 1977.
Use the Digital Copyright Slider. A powerfully simple tool to determine if something is in public domain or if permission is needed in US. While this will not answer every question, it really helps simplify the process and send you in the right direction.
Use these International Public Domain Calculators. A comprehensive list of links to international public domain calculators.
Check to see if Copyright was Renewed? For works published between1923-1963. Works published after January 1, 1964 had their copyrights automatically renewed by statute, and works published before 1923 have generally fallen into the public domain. Between those dates, determining whether a work's registration was renewed as required has been a challenge.
Use the Fair Use Evaluator. Helps you better understand how to to determine the “fairness” of a use under the U.S. Copyright Code and provides a time-stamped PDF document for your records and access to additional educational materials.
Use the Educational Exceptions for Instructors eTool. For educational use of copyrighted material without permission, helps see if your use meets requirements of law and provides PDF of summary of use.
So what if the four factor determination indicates it doesn't qualify for Fair Use? It could still be very affordable and available. Use the Copyright Clearance Center to get price quotes, referrals to rights owners, and for obtaining copyright permissions to use protected materials can be obtained.
Use the Duration of Copyright Chart to visually see how long copyright will last based on date of publication.
Use the Master Flowchart for Evaluating Copyright Status for works published between 1923 and 1977.
Use the Digital Copyright Slider. A powerfully simple tool to determine if something is in public domain or if permission is needed in US. While this will not answer every question, it really helps simplify the process and send you in the right direction.
Use the Section 108 Spinner. This is a quick, visual tool to guide determination of reproduction by Libraries or Archives for the Users, for Replacement, or for Preservation.
Use the Risk Management Calculator.
Helps user understand the types of factors and variables that might determine specific levels of risk in digitization projects.
Is a specific work is in the Public Domain? Try out this this Public Domain Calculator to see if it is, or when it will be.
Looking at an international work? Try the Published outside the US Public Domain Flowchart to determine if works first published outside the US is in Public Domain.
Use the Copyright Search for Music - from the Music Publisher’s Association: You need publisher/copyright information to locate a piece of music, or to obtain the necessary permission to perform or arrange it? Follow our easy guide to searchable databases where you'll find composers, titles, publishers, and other pertinent information for millions of compositions.
Authors - use the Addendum Engine to help you generate a PDF form that you can attach to a journal publisher’s copyright agreement to ensure that you retain certain rights.
Powerful tool for seeking information regarding the copyright & self-archiving policies for academic journals.