Copyright and Fair Use

Find free content and save on permission fees! Millions of creative works_books, artwork, photos, songs, movies, and more_are available copyright-free in the public domain. Whether your tastes run more Jane Austen or Jane Eyre, Beethoven or Irving Berlin, Edvard Munch or Claude Monet, you_ll find inspiration in The Public Domain. The only book that helps you find and identify which creative works are protected by copyright and which are not, The Public Domain covers the rules for: writings, music, art, photography, architecture, maps, choreography, movies, video, software, databases, and collections. This book covers the latest legal developments regarding copyright and the public domain_from state copyright policies to free and low-cost legal advice for creative types to copyright issues regarding photos lacking human authorship, and much more!

The public domain, as we understand it, is the wealth of information that is free from the barriers to access or reuse usually associated with copyright protection, either because it is free from any copyright protection or because the right holders have decided to remove these barriers. It is the basis of our self-understanding as expressed by our shared knowledge and culture. It is the raw material from which new knowledge is derived and new cultural works are created. The public domain acts as a protective mechanism that ensures that this raw material is available at its cost of reproduction— close to zero— and that all members of society can build upon it. Having a healthy and thriving public domain is essential to the social and economic well-being of our societies (Melanie Dulong de Rosnay , and Juan Carlos De Martin).

Why the public domain is vitally important and what we must do to protect it In this enlightening book James Boyle describes what he calls the range wars of the information age--today's heated battles over intellectual property. Boyle argues that just as every informed citizen needs to know at least something about the environment or civil rights, every citizen should also understand intellectual property law. Why? Because intellectual property rights mark out the ground rules of the information society, and today's policies are unbalanced, unsupported by evidence, and often detrimental to cultural access, free speech, digital creativity, and scientific innovation. Boyle identifies as a major problem the widespread failure to understand the importance of the public domain--the realm of material that everyone is free to use and share without permission or fee. The public domain is as vital to innovation and culture as the realm of material protected by intellectual property rights, he asserts, and he calls for a movement akin to the environmental movement to preserve it. With a clear analysis of issues ranging from Jefferson's philosophy of innovation to musical sampling, synthetic biology and Internet file sharing, this timely book brings a positive new perspective to important cultural and legal debates. If we continue to enclose the "commons of the mind," Boyle argues, we will all be the poorer.