The Librarian's Copyright Companion/Conclusion
Conclusion
That's it. When we were writing this book, we knew it would not provide "yes" or "no" answers to every copyright question you have. American copyright law is much too gray for that. As you have seen, the answer to any question dealing with copyright depends on its facts, and subtle factual differences may lead to different answers. We hope The Librarian's Copyright Companion, Second Edition gave you a framework that will help you analyze copyright issues in your institution.
There's a lot of information out there, some better than others. Stanford, the University of Texas at Austin, and Columbia University have good websites on copyright law, with very helpful information. Library organizations like the American Library Association and Association of Research Libraries also offer useful information. Even organizations that represent copyright owners, such as the Copyright Clearance Center and Association of American Publishers, can help you analyze copyright issues. Just remember to take their information with a grain of salt or plenty of aspirin.
The bottom line is that you are not alone in thinking that copyright can be confusing and that there are no easy answers to many questions you may confront. Neither are you alone in trying to answer those questions.
If you're a Marx Brothers fan, you may have noticed that we mentioned every Marx Brothers movie in the text—but we couldn't find a place for Love Happy except here.