Copyright

Let's Fix The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998

Why? The DMCA allows publishers to override the fair use doctrines that are laid out in the U.S. Constitution. An excellent Web site that sums up the problems: http://www.anti-dmca.org

A possible solution - H.R. 107, the Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act of 2003, introduced by Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va and John Doolittle R-CA. It is designed to give us back our Constitutional rights, and ensure fair-use rights for consumers of digital products such as CDs and DVDs. Boucher's bill amends the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Read more: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1594064,00.asp.

The text of the bill is available as a PDF or on Thomas. More information is available on Rick Boucher's site.

More on the general issue of copyright

Copyright Table: http://www.progenealogists.com/copyright_table.htm

Copyright Fundamentals for Genealogy: http://www.pddoc.com/copyright/genealogy_copyright_fundamentals.htm

They're Not Worthy: Why extend the copyright on works that no longer have commercial value?: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.01/view.html?pg=5

New Rules for Using Public Domain Materials, By Attorney Lloyd J. Jassin: http://copylaw.com/new_articles/PublicDomain.html

10 Big Myths about Copyright explained: http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html

Electronic Freedom Foundation:
http://www.eff.org/IP/

Nolo.Com, Law for All: http://www.nolo.com/lawcenter/ency/index.cfm/catID/FD8C060B-5DD4-4809-A53ECCF6BBD87E32#Subcategory30

Crash Course in Copyright: http://www.utsystem.edu/OGC/IntellectualProperty/cprtindx.htm

Conference on Fair Use: http://www.utsystem.edu/OGC/IntellectualProperty/confu.htm


The true secret of giving advice is, after you have honestly given it, to be perfectly indifferent whether it is taken or not, and never persist in trying to set people right. - Hannah Whitall Smith, American evangelist, writer, reformer, founder of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union in 1874