Navigating the Copyright Quagmire Swamp

When I watch SwampPeople on the History Channel, I can't help wonder how they navigate those croc-infested waters filled with tangled mangroves that all look alike.   I'd like a nice map, a boat with a shallow draft, and a good dentist to smile for the cameras.    The current copyright quagmire reminds me of this topography.   It's a tangled mess, under constant evolution, with changing tides, brackish bilge, dirty deals, uncharted waters, and certainly hard to navigate without being bitten. 

This year our 84 school libraries have a focus on Digital Copyright in a Copy & Paste World.  As I investigated resources I stumbled upon a few good ones that should be shared.  While these are not new, they were new to me and shouldn't be--So, I thought I'd share. 

http://www.librarycopyright.net/  The American Library Association via grant money from the MacArthur Foundation has aggregated four tools, each with a different copyright purpose.   These tools in itself serve as a virtual flowchart, or decision chart, to help define what the user should consider for fairuse, educational exceptions, out of print material and older items that "might" be in public domain.  

Thank you ALA for these Creative Common materials on this site!