Law Commons^™

The Rebirth Of Copyright As An Opt-In System?, James Gibson

Law Faculty Publications

For most of the history of Anglo-American copyright law, copyright was an opt-in system: Authors had to jump through certain regulatory hoops if they wanted to prevent others from copying their works without consent. These threshold formalities included registering their works with a government agency, affixing a notice to published copies, depositing exemplars with a centralized library, and more. A failure to comply with the requirements usually meant a diminution in the authors’ copyright entitlement – and in some cases a wholesale forfeiture, under which the works would pass immediately into the public domain.

After some 200 years, however, U.S. …

Don't Reinvent The Wheel: Legal Research Guides And Bibliographies Will Save You Valuable Time And Effort, Matt Novak

Marvin and Virginia Schmid Law Library

When researching unfamiliar areas of law it is often helpful to consult research guides and bibliographies. These resources can expedite the research process by identifying, compiling, and explaining the various tools needed to successfully research a legal topic. Research guides and bibliographies can be found in a number of online and print sources. By using a variety of specialized tools, one can quickly locate quality legal research guides and bibliographies no matter where they are.