Copyright law in the United States is intended to create a balance between the interests of authors to create new works and the interests of the public to have open access to ideas and information. The actual copyright law is contained in Title 17 of the U.S. Code. This law is complex, but there are some useful guides available on the Web to help.
United States Copyright Office The place to go for basic information about copyright. It is through the US Copyright Office that one can register original works for copyright.
Copyright and Fair Use, a site maintained by Stanford University Libraries, offers a wealth of links and information on academic use of copyrighted works.
The Copyright Clearance Center offers many links to useful information about copyright.
Association of Research Libraries Includes an overview of current copyright law, especially with regard to the National Information Infrastructure.
Cyberspace Law for Non-Lawyers Lessons 2-12 give a simple introduction to the basics of copyright law with examples to illustrate.
Copyright Website "...endeavors to provide real world, practical and relevant copyright information of interest to infonauts, netsurfers, webspinners, content providers, musicians, appropriationists, activists, infringers, outlaws, and law abiding citizens."
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