Researching Copyright Law

The U.S. Copyright Office's timeline of "major events in copyright."

In 2023, the U.S. Copyright Office began "an initiative to examine the copyright law and policy issues raised by artificial intelligence (AI) technology, including the scope of copyright in works generated using AI tools and the use of copyrighted materials in AI training." This page provides: Copyright Registration Guidance: Works Containing Material Generated by Artificial Intelligence (published on Mar. 16, 2023) + links to U.S. Copyright Office registration decisions for AI-generated materials. It includes multiple parts of the report: Copyright and Artificial Intelligence [Part 1: Digital Replicas, Part 2: Copyrightability + Part 3: Generative AI Training (a pre-publication version). It also links to the U.S. Copyright Office’s NewsNet notification system, if researchers wish to sign up to receive alerts on new developments at the U.S. Copyright Office.

Webinar (approx. 1 hour) on copyright basics + role of/resources provided by the U.S. Copyright Office.
Recordings of recent Copyright Office events are available here, including: The Plot Thickens: Copyright Essentials for Writers (Summer 2025), Find Your Voice: Copyright Essentials for Musicians (Spring 2025) + Creativity in Focus: Copyright Essentials for Visual Artists and Photographers (Winter 2025).

Recorded by Francesca Witzburg, ESCA Legal. Current as of: July 23, 2025.

Columbia University Copyright Advisory Office's checklist for evaluation of contemplated fair use of copyrighted works.

During the 118th Congress, this Committee held the hearing: "Radio, Music, and Copyrights: 100 Years of Inequity for Recording Artists" (June 26, 2024).

Basic information and international treaties collated by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Article by Roy Kaufman (originally published Sept. 1, 2025).