Category Archives: Resources

Authors Alliance Submits Comments Regarding the U.S. Copyright Office to the House Judiciary Committee

Posted January 31, 2017

Today, Authors Alliance submitted comments to the House Judiciary Committee in response to an initial proposal by Representatives Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and John Conyers (D-MI) to reform the U.S. Copyright Office. The Committee invited comment on four proposed reforms intended to reorganize the office, bolster expertise, modernize technology infrastructure, and allow for pursuit of small claim […]

Copyright Week 2017: Building and Defending the Public Domain

Posted January 16, 2017

It’s copyright week! This week, Authors Alliance is joining a group of organizations in reflecting on some of the principles that help make copyright law an engine of creativity. The public domain—the realm of works not subject to copyright restrictions—is a vital part of our creative system, providing the shared history, raw material, and expressive […]

Authors Alliance Comment to U.S. Copyright Office Supports Print-Disabled Readers

Posted November 9, 2016

As part of our ongoing advocacy in the space, Authors Alliance has again responded to the U.S. Copyright Office’s call for further comments regarding anti-circumvention provisions in Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. We believe in making reasonable exemptions from the law that protects digital “locks” that keep content inaccessible. In the past, […]

New Survey Informs Our Guide to Fair Use for Nonfiction Authors

Posted November 3, 2016

CC0 image by andibreit In partnership with organizations that support nonfiction authors, Authors Alliance is developing a Fair Use Best Practices Guide for Nonfiction Authors to help nonfiction authors navigate fair use. To make this the most effective and useful resource possible, we’re requesting your help via a short survey. Nonfiction authors often incorporate preexisting […]

Rightsback.org Termination of Transfer Tool

Posted October 31, 2016

In October of 2016, we launched a new online tool at rightsback.org, made with our allies at Creative Commons and designed to help authors navigate the “termination of transfer” provisions of U.S. copyright law. Complementing our efforts around rights reversions, the area of the law our tool helps clarify allows authors (or, in some cases, […]

Open Access Resource Roundup

Posted October 28, 2016

public domain image from the Library of Congress As Open Access Week comes to a close, we’d like to share a list of resources that you may find helpful in learning about OA and putting it into practice. Whether you are new to open access or just looking for more text, film, image, and audio […]

Brush Up on Your Open Access Knowledge With Our OA Handbook

Posted October 27, 2016

Just in time for Open Access Week, we’re highlighting our guidebook, Understanding Open Access: When, Why, & How To Make Your Work Openly Accessible. This is the second volume in our series of educational handbooks, following on the success of Understanding Rights Reversion. Our goal is to encourage our members to consider open access publishing […]

Authors Alliance Partners With the Internet Archive to Make Books Available

Posted October 26, 2016

Since the release of our guide to Understanding Rights Reversion in 2015, we have featured a number of “Rights Reversion Success Stories”—books that have been given a new life thanks to their authors’ efforts to regain publication rights and share their work widely.  Many of our members’ titles are already discoverable through the HathiTrust digital […]

This Open Access Week, learn about regaining rights with our new tool

Posted October 25, 2016

Just in time for Open Access Week, we are pleased to announce the launch of a brand-new online tool made with our allies at Creative Commons and designed to help authors navigate the “termination of transfer” provisions of U.S. copyright law. The theme of this year’s Open Access Week is “Open in Action” and our […]

Save the Date! “Publishing Your Dissertation” Event on October 25 at UC Berkeley

Posted October 3, 2016

Authors Alliance and the University of California are teaming up to present a workshop especially for graduate students on October 25. It’s one of many events taking place at UC Berkeley during Open Access Week. If you are a doctoral student (or hope to be one soon), you won’t want to miss “Publishing Your Dissertation:  […]