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Intellectual Property: Copyright, Trademark, Patents, and Fair Use

This guide provides access to resources and tools relating to copyright and trademark resources

Copyright Licensing

Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies
The Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies, Inc. (AARC) is the leading organization representing featured artists and recording companies, both domestically and abroad, in the areas of hometaping/private copy royalties and rental royalties.


American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
ASCAP is a membership association of more than 360,000 U.S. composers, songwriters, lyricists, and music publishers of every kind of music. Through agreements with affiliated international societies, ASCAP also represents hundreds of thousands of music creators worldwide.


Broadcast Music, Inc.
Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed.


Christian Copyright Licensing International
Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI) provides churches with solutions to manage copyright issues.


Copyright Clearance Center
Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) represent tens of thousands of authors, publishers and creators from nearly every country in the world. The CCC licenses the rights to millions of books, journals, newspapers, web sites, e-books, images, and blogs.


Creative Commons
Creative Commons is a non-profit corporation that provides free licenses and other legal tools to mark creative work with the freedom the creator.


Harry Fox Agency (HFA)
Harry Fox Agency (HFA) is the foremost mechanical licensing, collection, and distribution agency for music publishers in the U.S.


Movie Licensing USA
Movie Licensing USA provides Public Performance Site License to K-12 schools and public libraries which satisfies the copyright protection needed when entertainment movies are shown in the buildings.


SESAC, Inc (Performing Rights Organization)
SESAC, Inc. is a performing rights organization that represents songwriters and publishers and their right to be compensated for having their music performed in public.


Sound Exchange
SoundExchange is a nonprofit performance rights organization designated to collect and distribute digital performance royalties for recording artists when their sound recordings are performed on digital cable, satellite television music, & satellite radio.


The Authors Registry
The Authors Registry is a not-for-profit clearinghouse for payments to authors, receiving royalties from organizations and distributing them to U.S. authors.


The Motion Picture Licensing Corporation, (MPLC)
The Motion Picture Licensing Corporation, (MPLC) has been regarded as a leading source of copyright information as well as provider of the Umbrella License? for non-commercial movie exhibitions.