copyright investigation
One way to protect ourselves from copyright suits is to investigate the works of the author before its use. I looked up some information on how to do so; it was interesting to see that even looking up some information on copyright is a limited activity. There is just so far you can go with your search. Before you even start your search, you have to be familiar with a couple of copyrights laws such as: the Copyright Act of 1976, the Copyright Renewal Act of 1992, the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998. Although you have some general rules that are similar in these acts, you might have a couple of exemptions that can hamper your search process. This can be a problem, especially for the less educated in the society, or even those that do not have time to do a thorough search on every work they have to use. As a student, if I have to research every work before using it, this would cut out the time that I would for research on my paper.
You even have limitations on the searches made. Some of them are: not all of the works that are copyrights are published, so you might get in trouble by using a book or work that you did not know what copyright. Copyright also does not protect names and titles. The trademarks laws are there to protect the names. I would think that it is would be easier to have everything under the copyright laws, because all the laws cover one point: protection. I would be easier not only for the consumers, but for the lawmakers themselves.
If you want more information about this please check out this website, it is an interesting one: http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ22.html
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