Copyright, Intellectual Property & Patents

Boston University Resources

• Blackboard: Best Practices in Copyright Compliance
• Linking to Library Material in Blackboard Learn: Video Tutorial
• Boston University Office of the General Counsel
• Copyright Basics
• Copyright Resources
• Digital Millennium Copyright Act
• Obtaining Copyright Permissions
• Plagiarism Detection

Copyright

• ARL Fair Use FAQ for Professors [PDF]
• Campus Copyright: Rights and Responsibilities: A Basic Guide to Policy [PDF]
• Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Academic and Research Libraries
  From the Association of Research Libraries (ARL).
• CONTU Guidelines on Photocopying under Interlibrary Loan Arrangements
  Developed to assist librarians and copyright proprietors in understanding the amount of photocopying for use in interlibrary loan arrangements permitted under the copyright law.
• Copyright Advisory Network
  Encourages librarians to discuss copyright concerns, and seek feedback and advice from fellow librarians and copyright specialists.
• Copyright and Fair Use
• Copyright Clearance Center: Copyright Basics
• Copyright Clearance Center: Lessons from the TEACH Act [blog post]
• Copyright Clearance Center: Using Course Management Systems [PDF]
• Creative Commons
  Provides free tools that let authors, scientists, artists, and educators easily mark their creative work with the freedoms they want it to carry.
• Digital Millenium Copyright Act H.R. 2281 ENR
• Exceptions for Instructors in U.S. Copyright Law
  Asks a series of yes/no questions to help determine whether a planned educational use is fair
• Fair Use Checklist
  Explanation and link to PDF from Columbia University with guidelines for determining if use of a resource constitutes Fair Use.
• Know Your Copy Rights: Using Copyrighted Works in Academic Settings
  A brochure targeted to teaching faculty from the Association of Research Libraries.
• State Copyright Resource Center
  Aims to clarify ambiguity around copyright status of state-produced works. The State Copyright Resource Center is a living document to ensure the most current information is available, and provide information about the copyright status of state works.
• U.S. Code Title 17-Copyrights
• U.S. Copyright Office
• University of Texas System: Copyright Crash Course

Database

• Stanford University Copyright Renewal Database
  Includes the copyright renewal records received by the US Copyright Office between 1950 and 1992 for books published in the US between 1923 and 1963.

E-Journals

• Copyright Bulletin 
• World Patent Information

Intellectual Property

• Intellectual Property and the National Information Infrastructure
  An Executive Summary of the White House Information Infrastructure Task Force.
• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

Patents

• European Patent Office
• Google Patent Search
• National Information Standards Organization (NISO)
  A non-profit association publishing technical standards
• Understanding Patentese: A Patent Glossary
• United States Patent and Trademark Office

Visual Arts

• Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for the Visual Arts