Copyright Office Web Site

The United States Copyright Office maintains a web site (http://www.copyright.gov/) containing a wealth of information about copyright protection.  The site provides forms for filing applications to register a claim of copyright, as well as detailed instructions for completing and filing such forms.

U.S. Copyright Laws

The Copyright Office web site also provides access to the Copyright Act of 1976, as amended to incorporate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act (http://www.copyright.gov/title17/).

A summary of the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act can be found at http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf.

The TEACH Act amended Section 110(2) of the Copyright Act to clarify the permissible display of copyrighted works by educational institutions in distance learning.  The amendment attempted to place the fair use exception for distance learning on the same footing as fair use in traditional classroom settings.

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