Copyright Resources: Organizations

Library Organizations

• American Association of Law Libraries: AALL is the trade association for law libraries in universities, law firms, businesses and municipalities. Its Copyright Committee sponsors and maintains a website that informs members about copyright issues, and works with the organization's Washington Affairs Office in advocating for fair and equitable copyright laws and information policy.
• American Library Association: ALA is the largest library representative organization in the country, and its Office for Information Technology Policy monitors copyright developments on its members' behalf and sponsors copyright education initiatives.
• Association of Research Libraries: ARL is the principal trade association for North America's leading research libraries in universities and other nationally significant institutions. ARL has joined many of the other library associations in advocating for fair and equitable copyright legislation and information policy.
• Special Libraries Association: SLA represents the interests of libraries that are in corporate environments, with some presence in academic and government environments.
  

Governmental & Non-Governmental Organizations

• United States Copyright Office: The United States Copyright Office advises and assists Congress on copyright law and other intellectual property issues, and assists in the drafting of copyright legislation.
• World Intellectual Property Organization: WIPO is an organization that drafts and enacts standardized, international agreements on the protection of creative works.

Entertainment & Media Organizations

• Association of American Publishers: AAP is the principal trade association for the book publishing industry.
• British Phonographic Industry: BPI promotes and advocates on behalf of record companies in the United Kingdom.
• Future of Music Coalition: The Coalition seeks to develop equitable policy initiatives that span the intersection of music and technology, and sponsors an influential annual conference on these topics in Washington, D.C. each January.
• Home Recording Rights Coalition: The HRRC's mission is to protect consumers' right to buy and use analog and digital recording equipment.
• International Federation of Phonographic Industry: The IFPI is an international organization that represents record companies and the music industry.
• Motion Picture Association: MPAA is the principal trade association of the film industry.
• Recording Industry Association of America: RIAA is the principal trade association of United States record companies and the American music industry.
• Secure Digital Music Initiative: SDMI is a consortium that seeks to develop digital rights management technology for use in the music industry.
  

Computer & Technology Organizations

• Business Software Alliance: BSA is an international organization that represents the interests of the computer software and electronic commerce industries. Its members include Adobe and Microsoft. Interestingly, BSA opposes legislation that would force its members to implement digital rights management technologies into their products, but traditionally has supported the most controversial provisions of the DMCA.
• Consumer Electronics Association: The CEA represents the nation's major manufacturers of consumer electronics and computers, and its members include Dell Computer Corporation, Hewlett-Packard and Sony. Recently, CEA has opposed legislation that would its members to incorporate digital rights management technologies into their products.
• Information Technology Association of America: ITAA represents the interests of the information technology industry.
• Software & Information Industries Association: SIIA represents the interests of the software and digital content industry.
  

Licensing, Rights & Clearances

• American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers: ASCAP is one of two major American organizations that collects music performance royalties on behalf of recording artists, songwriters and performers.
• Broadcast Music, Inc. : Like ASCAP, BMI is a performing rights organization that collects music performance royalties on behalf of recording artists, songwriters and performers.
• Copyright Clearance Center: CCC licenses reproduction rights for electronic and print content, and collects license fees for use of that content.
• iCopyright: iCopyright is an instant clearing service for electronic content.
• Creative Commons: Creative Commons is a project that helps artists and authors protect their works with alternatives to licensing and copyright law.
• Harry Fox Agency: Harry Fox collects licensing royalties on behalf of music publishers.
• Society of European Stage Authors and Composers: Although it is smaller than both ASCAP or BMI, SESAC is a third music performing rights organization in the United States.

Policy Organizations & Think Tanks

• Berkeley Center for Law & Technology: Founded in 1995, the Berkeley Center is the oldest of the academic law and technology centers that are affiliated with American law schools. Its mission is to "foster beneficial and ethical advancement of technology by promoting the understanding and guiding the development of intellectual property ... as they intersect with business, science and technology."
• Berkman Center for Internet & Society: Affiliated with Harvard Law School, the Berkman Center is a research center that studies the Internet and the laws that apply to it.
• Center for Internet and Society: Stanford Law School's public interest technology law and policy program, headed by Lawrence Lessig.
• Chilling Effects Clearinghouse: A joint project of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Harvard, Stanford and others, the goal of the Clearinghouse is to help users and website owners understand legal issues that affect and govern online activities. The Clearinghouse has been active in trying to stop businesses from using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's automatic takedown provisions in a way that restricts free speech.
• DigitalConsumer.org: A coalition that seeks to "restore the balance between citizens and copyright holders" by strengthening fair use.
• Digital Future Coalition: DFC is a wide coalition of educational, business and consumer groups that seeks to balance intellectual property rights and public policy.
• Electronic Frontier Foundation: EFF is a electronic civil liberties organization that has litigated many copyright cases in federal court, including ....
• Information Society Project: Affiliated with Yale Law School, the Project sponsors the LawMeme weblog (see Electronic Resources) and reports on and studies issues in telecommunications, Internet and intellectual property law.