Copyright Law

Copyright is a type of intellectual property that protects original works of authorship as soon as an author fixes the work in a tangible form of expression. In copyright law, there are a lot of different types of works, including paintings, photographs, illustrations, musical compositions, sound recordings, computer programs, books, poems, blog posts, movies, architectural works, plays, and much more. (What is copyright?)

Until mid-1870, copyright registration duties were handled by the local U.S. District Court of the author or proprietor, while the work itself was deposited with the Department of State (until 1846), the Library of Congress (1846-1859, 1865-1870), the Smithsonian Institution (concurrently 1846-1859), and the Patent Office (1859-1865, 1865-1870 concurrently). In 1870 all copyright responsibilities were centralized in the Library of Congress.

For more information, see the Pre-1870 Copyright Records guide.

The GW Law Library provides access to the Aspen Learning Library, which includes the Examples & Explanations series and CrunchTime study guides; and the LexisNexis Digital Library, which includes the Understanding and Q&A series. When prompted to login, use your GW Law email address and password.

Print study aids may be borrowed from the Reserve Collection at the Law Library's Circulation/Reserve Desk for up to 2 hours. Older editions may be found in the Law Library stacks. For more study aids in the Law Library's collection, please consult our Study Aids guide.

Search the Library's catalog (JACOB) to see if a book required for class is on Course Reserve in the Library. Course Reserve materials may be checked out from the Library's Circulation/Reserve Desk for up to two hours.

CALI lessons are interactive tutorials written by law professors at CALI member schools. They can be used for studying specific topics.

Ask a Reference Librarian for the GW Law CALI code.

Potentially useful terms and keywords for searching within library catalogs, databases, and websites for information related to copyright law include:

• Copyright
• Copyright Infringement
• Copyright Licenses
• Fair Use
• Original Works of Authorship
• Public Domain