Authors Alliance is grateful to Jacqui Lipton for this guest post on implied licenses. Her new book, Law and Authors: A Legal Handbook for Writers, is an approachable, reader-friendly resource to help authors navigate the legal landscape of the contemporary publishing industry. Through case studies and hypothetical examples, Law and Authors addresses issues of copyright […]
While the terms “copyright infringement” and “plagiarism” are often incorrectly used interchangeably, they are different harms. Authors Alliance is grateful to Nicolas Charest, Copyright Research Assistant, for providing this overview for authors to clarify how copyright infringement and plagiarism differ. Copyright infringement is a harm that is grounded in law: It is a violation of […]
Authors who want to incorporate source materials into their writings with confidence may find themselves faced with more questions than answers. What exactly does fair use mean? What factors do courts consider when evaluating claims of fair use? How does fair use support authors’ research, writing, and publishing goals? Fortunately, help is at hand! This […]
If you have questions about copyright registration, you’re not alone! Authors often ask us why they should register copyright in their works and when and how to do so. Read on for a primer on the benefits of copyright registration, how to register your copyright, and situations where you may want to update or supplement […]
As a part of our series of open access success stories that spotlight noteworthy openly accessible books and their authors, we’re featuring Cynthia Willett, Professor of Philosophy at Emory University and Julie Willett, Associate Professor at Texas Tech University. In their new book Uproarious: How Feminists and Other Subversive Comics Speak Truth, Willett and Willett […]
Authors Alliance is grateful to Elizabeth H. Yandell, associate at Latham & Watkins, for contributing this post about a recent decision interpreting the “non-commercial” element of Creative Commons licenses. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued an important opinion interpreting a widely used Creative Commons “Non-Commercial” license. The case, Great Minds v. Office Depot, […]
Authors Alliance is grateful to Nicolas Charest, Copyright Research Assistant, for researching and drafting this post. There is longstanding confusion between trademarks and copyrights, which can sometimes lead to controversy in author communities. Notably, in 2018 an author sparked what came to be known as “CockyGate” after she registered a trademark for the word “cocky” […]
As we ring in the New Year, authors have one more reason to celebrate: another batch of works has entered the public domain in the United States. Last year, the new year brought works published in 1923 that had previously been protected by copyright into the public domain—the first time in 20 years that published […]
Media sources report that the Trump Administration is considering a policy to make the results of federally funded research immediately available for the public to freely access and use. Current policy requires results of federally funded research be made available in pre-print form within 12 months of publication. The rumored policy would eliminate the 12-month […]
Last week, Public Knowledge released Making Sense of the Termination Right: How the System Fails Artists and How to Fix It, a report that explores the right of authors to terminate a copyright license or grant and regain rights in their works—even if their contracts contain language to the contrary. The termination system was designed […]
