An Archivist's Guide to Copyright

Navigating Risk Management

William J. Maher

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Libraries Unlimited
• Year: 2026
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9798881801694
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Library & Information Science
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

Copyright. The very word can make an archivist's eyes glaze over. But this book is here to help.

Fear of copyright can sometimes make everything an archivist does-preservation, reference, digitization-feel like a prelude to an unintended lawsuit.

In this book, readers learn core parts of the U.S. copyright law, how to apply basic tools to address archives-specific issues, and learn effective use of existing exceptions and limitations. The goal is to provide archivists with the ability to navigate copyright to achieve the ultimate archival mission: to preserve the broadest array of heritage material and enable as wide a use as possible.

This book:

· Provides a foundation for how to read the copyright law, review legal literature, and navigate authoritative websites and news sources;
· Promotes a clear understanding of the separate rights of authors, owners, and users and how these rights relate to institutional and general cultural archives;
· Clarifies the relevance of the historical landmarks in copyright legislation and case law;
· Outlines the basics of related laws and rights regimes (e.g., privacy, publicity, moral, and cultural property rights) to understand when and how copyright does and does not relate to them;
· Surveys recent legislation and court cases, especially those relating to fair use, sound-recordings, and alternative dispute resolution; and
· Guides archivists in a multi-factor analysis to support the decisions needed to manage copyright issues and risks.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle Page
• Dedication Page
• Title Page
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• 1 Archives and Archivists: Does Anyone Understand Us?
• 2 Conceptual Overview of Copyright for the American Archivist
• 3 Holy Cow! Even Saints Have Infringed! Landmarks of Copyright History
• 4 The US Copyright Act (Title 17 U.S.C.)
• 5 Understanding Fair Use: Four Factors and Relevant Cases
• 6 Copyright’s Strange Relatives
• 7 Taming the Copyright Beast: Administering Archives for Copyright
• 8 “Yes You Can!”: Risk Management for Copyright in Archives
• 9 “Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain”: The “Realpolitik” of Today’s Copyright Law
• 10 Time to Start Thinking about Artificial Intelligence?
• 11 Changing Copyright Law: What You Can Do
• 12 Changing Copyright Law: It Takes an Organization
• Appendix 1: Copyright Fair Use Checklist
• Appendix 2: How to Use Risk Assessment Tables
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index
• About the Author
• Imprint