This book provides a foundation in the law to support a risk-management approach for archivists to use in assessing their own collections and institutional circumstances.

This is the first full-length book that provides a foundation for understanding the core parts of U.S. copyright law that apply to archives. It will support archivists in developing a risk-management approach to assess their own collections and institutional circumstances as they strive to navigate copyright. The goal is to enable achievement of the ultimate archival mission–preserving the broadest array of heritage material and enabling the widest possible use. This long overdue review of copyright law, written by an archivist for archivists, deals with both the one-of a-kind materials that form the bulk of most archives and the methods and practices of professional archival work. It will be especially useful to institutional archivists and curators of related documentary collections, whether found in research and academic libraries, museums, historical societies, or in governmental and other institutional archives.

By also examining the historical and social/political contexts from which the current law has evolved, An Archivist's Guide to Copyright explains what otherwise can seem incoherent and irrelevant in today's world. It provides the groundwork for why and how the profession should engage in public policy work toward legislative and judicial recognition that 21st century copyright law needs to look beyond just the commercial marketing of works.