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Free Offsite Resources:
"If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than all others of exclusive property, it is the action of the thinking power called an idea, which an individual may exclusively possess as long as he keeps it to himself; but the moment it is divulged, it forces itself into the possession of every one, and the receiver cannot dispossess himself of it."
– Thomas Jefferson
This page exists to collect free resources for researching matters of copyright, patent, and trademark law and scholarly works on the subject. The following links will be listed in alphabetical order, because the reverse chronological order used for other lists of links elsewhere on this site is inappropriate to the sorts of resources available in this list. You may use our Contact Page to suggest more resources to be added to this page. Such submissions will go into a moderation queue where they will be evaluated and, if found relevant, added to the list by a real human being. It's true!
Articles:
- Against Intellectual Monopoly — Michele Boldrin and David K. Levine have written a book detailing an in-depth logical argument against so-called "intellectual property" law, what they (and Thomas Jefferson) correctly identify as "intellectual monopoly". It's available free on the Internet through this link. (levine.sscnet.ucla.edu)
- Bloggers' FAQ about Intellectual Property — The Electronic Frontier Foundation has provided this resource to help webloggers sort out the tangled web of copyright law as it pertains to their craft. (www.eff.org)
- EFF Action Center — We don't precisely agree with absolutely everything the EFF does, but mostly they seem to be on the right track. Check out their Action Center for current information about the latest attempts by your legislature to screw with your ability to freely distribute and modify code and content. (action.eff.org)
- FreePatentsOnline — According to its homepage, the FreePatentsOnline search engine is one of the most powerful, fastest and easiest patent search engines on the web.
- Right to Create: Ridiculous Patents — This is a simple Google search for the word "ridiculous" at the Right To Create website. The end result is a list of references to ridiculous patents granted by the USPTO on the website. (www.google.com and righttocreate.blogspot.com)