burdlaw.com COPYRIGHT INFORMATION ON THE WEB
Copyrights relate to works of art, including textual, visual, musical, dramatic, etc.  and are automatic upon creation.  Copyrights can be registered in order to obtain additional rights, particularly as to enforcement and international recognition.

   COPYRIGHT BASICS we link now to the Copyright Office brochure and no longer update our "Copyright Basics" brochure since the Copyright Office does a terrific job updating theirs and there is no since duplicating that fine effort .

 Copyright Office the US Copyright Office home page

Copyright Newsflashes -

GroksterMorpheus, Kazaa, LimeWire and now BitTorrent succumb to RIAA ,he file sharing networks have had a bad year. All the leading P2P networks have lost following the Supreme Court decision that the trial court was wrong not to have considered the issue of inducing copyright infringement.  Now the trial court has found Morpheus guilty of inducing infringement.  The four largest P2P networks have thus one by one bit the dust.  The remaining big offender BitTorrent has been bought by Warner Brothers on the basis that Warner wants the technology to distribute for pay movies, thus coopting the largest and technically most advanced P2P network.  The days of P2P appear numbered.

Modified Chip for Sony Playstation held copyright infringement at moment creator made the copy which he used to create the modified chip, despite defense arguing there was no infringing article.  UK Case 9/28/2004

Infringing course materials come under jurisdiction of US courts USA

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a district court's finding that it had subject matter jurisdiction over a copyright infringement claim. The case involved the distribution of educational course materials that were created in France, marketed in cyberspace and imported into the United States. Full text 9/28/2004
 

 Procedure for reconsideration of refusal to register December 29, 2004 update

  World Copyright Report  an online magazine that reports on copyright news and basic copyright information.  Written at a relatively high level, so it's not for the copyright novice but rather for copyright lawyers and specialists.  Subscription required but is currently free  Copyright Registration Search online searching of US Copyright Office’s database  Why register? A short article to explain why, even though copyright is automatic, registration is VITAL to enforcing a copyright
 US Copyright Law (from Cornell) a link to the actual statuteslike patent law, copyright law is FEDERAL law, which is litigated in FEDERAL courts. on copyright…note that  ASCAP (American Society of Composer And Publishers) - performance rights  Copyright Forms official forms (in .pdf format) from the US Copyright Office
 World Intel. Prop. Org. (international copyright agency)   BMI (Broadcase Music Incorporated - performance rights)   LOC Online Catalog Search
  Copyright Clearance Center (blanket periodical copying licenses) if your business wants a license to copy magazine articles, the CCC can provide it.)   SESAC (Society of European Stage Authors and Composers – int’l performance rights)   Library of Congress (where copyright office is located)
 US Patent Office (patents & trademarks )

  Harry Fox Agency (recording rights) – if you want to use a copyrighted song in a recording you are making, this is where you go to get permission

  Pending © Legislation
  Copyright Searching (how to)   NMPA (music publishers assoc.) – if you want permission to publish sheet music of a copyrighted song, this is where you go.  Fair Use & Copyright (Stanford University)
  Copyright Lawyer if you need to sue to get what’s due   Copyright Basics (from US Copyright Office) An excellent introductory article on the basics of copyright law and practice, prepared by the US Copyright Office.   Copyright Myths (debunked)
  NY Times v TasiniSupreme Court - online pub of collective work infringes © in individual works   Copyright Society (Duke University)  Crash Course in Copyright Law (University of Texas)
  Copyright Detective  (private eye)   Copyright Books (basic information)   Country Music Studios (links to  country music recording studos)
  Pressplay (Sony & Universal online digital music stream subscription service joint venture)   Back to burdlaw  MusicNet (BMG, EMI, Warner & Zomba online digitial music stream subscription service )
 Copyright Portal (case law & links) The Major Labels

(contacts for licensing copyrights in sound recordings)

Universal Music Group (i.e, MCA, Geffen, Mercury, Island)
Business & Legal Affairs
Universal Music Group
70 Universal City Plaza
Universal City, CA 91608
tel. (310) 865-9571

Warner Music Group (i.e., Warner Bros., Atlantic, Elektra)
Mark Ansorge, Esq.
VP Business Affairs/New Technology
Warner Music Group
75 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10019
tel. (212) 275-1348
fax (212) 405-5297

Sony Music Entertainment (i.e, Epic, Columbia)
Larry Kanusher
Director of Business Affairs, New Technology and Business Development
Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
550 Madison Avenue
New York, New York 10022-3211
tel. (212) 833-8640
fax (212) 833-4873

BMG Entertainment (i.e., BMG, RCA, Arista)
David Seklir
Senior Director, Business and Legal Affairs
BMG Entertainment
1540 Broadway - 43rd Floor
New York, NY 10036
tel. (212) 930-6683
fax (212) 930-4134

EMI-Capitol Music Group North America (i.e., Capitol, Virgin, Chrysalis)
Alasdair McMullan, Esq.
VP Legal Affairs
1290 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10104
tel. (212) 492-5056
fax (212) 492-5095

Their association, the RIAA

The RIAA Member Labels 
 IIAP (International Intellectual Property Alliance) – Copyright Anti-Counterfeiting Organization IRMA (International Recording Media Association) – high level executive networking group
Authorlink – an online unpublished manuscript exchange IRMA Directory Search (Searchable Directory of Recording Industry Suppliers and Publishers)
INTA – International Trademark Association (world’s largest trademark owners association) Major Publishers Links (List of US Publishing Links)
Muzak (U.S. business music broadcaster) SoundWave (U.S. audio industry information)
Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) (U.K.) Music Interactive, web site development for music industry (U.K.)
Dot Music (U.K. music industry guide) IMMEDIA Australia & Asia Media Directory
Songlink International (U.K.-based songwriters & publishers monthly tipsheet/magazine) New England Artist Records (U.S.)
Webnoise, an online music industry news service (U.S.) The Independent Feature Project (U.S.)
The National Music Foundation (NMC) (U.S.) The Blues Foundation (U.S.)
International Intellectual Property Alliance (U.S.) Music Educators National Conference (MENC) (U.S.)
Musi-Cal (Calendar for live music events) The American Music Center (U.S.)
Gigswap, a music networking organization Hollywood Reporter - Music Listings
Museum of Television And Radio (MTV&R) (U.S.) Taxi, an independent A&R resource for the music industry (U.S.)
All Music Network (U.S.)

Pollstar - tour information

Sony Bono Copyright Extension Act.

DVD Copy Plus lawsuit

 Copyright Preregistration

Preregistration is a service intended for certain types of unpublished works that have had a history of prerelease infringement. Its purpose is to preserve the remedies of statutory damages and attorney�s fees for copyright owners of these works when they have been infringed before publication and registration. A preregistered work must be registered within 3 months after publication. Preregistration takes place only online, is not a substitute for registration, and is not a guarantee that the Copyright Office will ultimately register the work. For further information, go to http://www.copyright.gov.

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