This is an index page to copyright content, that is currently being developed. If you have a question about a topic raised on this page, please feel free to contact copyright@umass.edu .
Copyright Basics – Learn More About Copyright
- What is a copyright?
- What’s the difference between a copyright, and a trademark, or a patent?
- What’s the difference between copyright and plagiarism?
- What kinds of works can be copyrighted? What is copyrightability?
- What’s the difference between plagiarism and copyright?
- What are the rights of copyright?
- Why does copyright exist?
- How do I get a copyright?
- Do you have to include a copyright notice on a work?
- Do you have to register a copyright?
- How do you register copyrights?
- Who owns copyrights?
- What is the work-made-for-hire doctrine?
- What’s a joint author?
- Explain licensing and copyright transfers to me!
- What is copyright termination?
- Can you help me understand my publication contract?
- Who owns works by professors, students, or staff here at UMass?
- What rights come with copyrights? What rights don’t?
- 6 exclusive rights: Reproduction; Distribution; Derivative Works; Public performance and display.
- Translation and copyright
- What kinds of copyright issues apply to music?
- What kinds of copyright issues apply to art?
- What kinds of copyright issues apply to software?
- What kinds of copyright issues apply to photographs?
- What kinds of copyright issues apply to video?
- What kinds of limitations, exceptions, and defenses are there in copyright?
- Titles and short phrases are not copyrightable!
- Facts are not copyrightable!
- Methods and inventions are not copyrightable!
- Idea / expression dichotomy
- Fair use.
- First sale (or exhaustion).
- Video performances in the classroom and distance learning (TEACH Act)
- Library exemptions.
- Public domain – How do I know if a work is public domain?
- What special rights do teachers and educational institutions have?
- What special rights do librarians have?
- Getting permission
- When should I get permission to use another work?
- How do I ask for permission to use another work?
- What is Creative Commons licensing?
- How do I apply a Creative Commons license?
- How do I cite to a Creative Commons licensed work?
- What are orphan works?
- What is copyright enforcement?
- What are my options if my copyright is infringed?
- What are my options if I receive a copyright notice or complaint?
- What’s the DMCA Section 512 notice-and-takedown provision?
- What’s the DMCA Section 1201 anticircumvention provision?
- International and non-US issues
- Is copyright the same in every country?
- How do I get a copyright in another country?
- Can I use a non-US work?
- How do I research copyright law?
- Legal research library guide
- Copyright treatises available in the Copyright Office of the Library
Using Copyrighted Works and Other Content: Can I use this fact, this figure, this piece of information, this drawing? Is the content copyrighted, or public domain, or non-copyrighted? What is Creative Commons licensing? What is fair use? What is the TEACH Act? Can I show this movie in class, or for a group?
Learn More About Information Policy and Law