Intellectual property
UK Intellectual Property
Newly created site replacing previous government portal contains similar material being summaries of the law relating to various IP rights and, very usefully, good set of legislative materials in this area.
Out-law.com
Off-shoot of Pinsent Masons, solicitors, Out-Law.com focuses on IT, internet and associated issues: the site has many free resources in this area, and some paid for.
ICANN
ICANN co-ordinates the assignation of Internet domain names and offers a domain names dispute resolution service as well as news on technical developments.
Internet Library of Law and Court Decisions
http://www.internetlibrary.com/
This resource, authored by Martin H Samson, features summaries of over 500 court decisions on cases shaping the law of the Web, often with links to the full decision. Excellent resource.
British Music Rights
The organisation that seeks to help protect the rights of music makers. Contains brief articles and news on legal developments.
Copyright Licensing Agency
The bane of many an office manager, the agency’s site explains its work and explains the law and its work. See also in this vein the Libraries and Archives Copyright Alliance at www.cilip.org.uk/committees/laca/laca.html.
Patent Office
The Patent Office has lost its separate web identity and is subsumed under the Intellectual Property Office: click through on “patents” from this site. Very useful official site packed with loads of information and databases.
Freepatentsonline
Provides free access to full text of all US patents in PDF format, partial European data and a patent blog.