The 1976 Copyright Act

Lecture Description

Course Description

This course is an introduction to copyright law and American law in general. Topics covered include: structure of federal law; basics of legal research; legal citations; how to use LexisNexis®; the 1976 Copyright Act; copyright as applied to music, computers, broadcasting, and education; fair use; Napster®, Grokster®, and Peer-to-Peer file-sharing; Library Access to Music Project; The 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act; DVDs and encryption; software licensing; the GNU® General Public License and free software.

Related Resources

Readings 1   |  Readings 2   |  Readings 3   |  Readings 4

Course Index

1. Introduction to the Basics of Legal Research and Legal Citations
2. The 1976 Copyright Act
3. Copyright Applied to Music and Computers: Peer-to-Peer File Sharing
4. Software Liscensing: DVDs and Encryption