Please Respect Copyright on the Web!

• All works are covered by a copyright upon creation - its not necessary to display a copyright symbol or statement in order to maintain a copyright on your work.
• Web pages are protected by a copyright. Information contained on those web pages and all original information that is not in the public domain is protected by copyright. A compilation of works, including a set of links arranged into a compilation, IS protected by copyright.
• URLs to web sites are not under copyright protection by themselves because they are a fact, just as telephone numbers are. However, a link is not the same as a URL:

  URL + HTML code + descriptive text = A Link

• Graphics and other multimedia on a site are also protected by a copyright, unless they are clearly marked as public domain.
• Source code for a web page is copyright protected. Just because you CAN copy it, doesn't mean that you SHOULD copy it. Doing so would constitute a copyright violation.

Copyright Resources on the Web

• 10 Big Myths About Copyright Explained 
• Ask Yahoo! - How long does copyright last? 
• Australian Copyright Council 
• Can I Borrow A Bit of Digital? 
  By Marie D'Amico for NetGuide Magazine.
• CIPO-OPIC : Canadian Intellectual Property Office - Office de la Propriété Intellectuelle 
• Copyright & Fair Use - Stanford University Libraries 
• Copyright and Fair Use in the Digital Age 
• Copyright and the World Wide Web 
• Copyright Basics 
• Copyright Clearance Center Online (CCC) 
• Copyright for Family Historians 
  Article by David Hawgood with a focus on UK laws.
• Copyright For Genealogical Societies 
  Articles from the California State Genealogical Alliance Newsletter.
• Copyright in Historical Perspective 
  A book by Lyman Ray Patterson.
• Copyright in the Internet: A short primer for business lawyers 
• Copyright in the New World of Electronic Publishing 
  Article by William S. Strong.
• Copyright Laws on the Internet - The Mystery Behind the © 
• COPYRIGHT Mailing List 
  Archives: browse or search.
• Copyright on the Internet 
• Copyright Resources on the Internet 
  From the Groton Public Schools Copyright Implementation Manual (CIM).
• Copyrights and Copywrongs: The Rise of Intellectual Property and How It Threatens Creativity 
  A book by Siva Vaidhyanathan.
• Copyrights & Wrongs 
  Written by Mark Howells for one of several different genealogical publications.
• Copyright Table 
  Courtesy of Cottrill & Hefti, Professional Genealogists.
• Cyber-Property: Copyright, Citation, and the World Wide Web 
• Database Copyrights 
• Digital Copyright: Protecting Intellectual Property on the Internet 
  A book by Jessica Litman.
• The Digital Millennium Copyright Act
  • Digital Millennium Copyright Act 
    From Educause, Current Issues.
  • The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 - U.S. Copyright Office Summary 
• Do-It-Yourself Counter Notification Letter 
  The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, enacted in 1998, set out a notification procedure that can be used to request an ISP to remove allegedly infringing material from a web page. However, there is a defense against this attack: it's called a counter notification letter.
• Fair Use: Overview and Meaning for Higher Education 
• FindLaw: Copyright 
• The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World 
  A book by Lawrence Lessig.
• Genealogy.com - Who Owns Genealogy? - Cousins and Copyrights 
  Article by Gary Hoffman.
• HMSO Guidance Notes - Publishing and Copyright 
  For UK documents under Crown Copyright (including census & civil registration documents), the HMSO has revised its stance on enforcing their copyright. These guidelines can help genealogists understand what they may and may not do with UK Crown Copyrighted information without prior approval from the HMSO.
• Horror on the Web 
  Article from Shaking Your Family Tree, by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, C.G.
• The Illustrated Story of Copyright 
  A book by Edward Samuels.
• Intellectual Property Law Server 
• Mistake or Misdemeanor - Staying Legal with Internet Copyrights 
  By Rhonda R. McClure.
• The National Archives | Terms of use | Copyright  ~ U.K.
• The Patent Office - Copyright 
  United Kingdom.
  • Copyright and the Internet 
• Royalties, Fair Use & Copyright in the Electronic Age 
• So, You Have Copyright Questions and Answers, Huh? 
  From HTML Goodies.
• SUL: Copyright & Fair Use: Articles and Publications 
• United States Code Title 17 - Copyrights 
  From the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School.
• U.S. Copyright and Genealogy 
• U.S. Copyright Office 
  • Copyright Basics 
  • Copyright Law of the United States of America 
    And related laws contained in Title 17 of the United States Code.
• Web Issues  from The Copyright Website 
• Web Law FAQ 
• What is Copyright Protection? 
• When Works Pass Into The Public Domain 

**Author's Note: The entirety of Cyndi's List is fully protected under copyright as an original compilation work. The graphics for the site were created by and for Cyndi Howells as a unique and identifying trademark for the web site and are not available for use by anyone other than the owner.

The HTML source code, all original text and the original graphics on Cyndi's List have all been registered with the U.S. Copyright Office at the Library of Congress, registration number TXu 787-268.

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