****Begin File******************Begin File*******************Begin File**** *************************************************************************** ISSN 1069-7799 ALAWON ALA Washington Office Newsline An electronic publication of the American Library Association Washington Office Volume 3, Number 34 July 15, 1994 In this issue: (120 lines) INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY REPORT ISSUED BY ADMINISTRATION WORKING GROUP *************************************************************************** INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY REPORT ISSUED BY ADMINISTRATION WORKING GROUP On July 7, Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown released for public comment a report, _Intellectual Property and the National Information Infrastructure; A Preliminary Draft of the Report of the Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights_. Part of the Administration's Information Infrastructure Task Force, the working group was chaired by Bruce A. Lehman, Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks. The report recommends changes in U.S. law aimed at providing greater protection for copyrighted information that could be accessed by users of the National Information Infrastructure. At a briefing on July 7, Lehman said that in general the current law will work just fine in the NII environment. He emphasized that the recommended changes are modest, "just tying up loose ends," and that it is important to not overreact. Nevertheless, the overall effect of these recommendations would be a broadening of owners' rights and a narrowing of certain limitations on those rights. A brief summary of the findings and recommendations follows: A. Law 1. Distribution by Transmission a. The Distribution Right. Amend Sec. 106 to reflect that distribution to the public by transmission falls within the exclusive distribution right of the copyright owner. b. Publication. Amend the definition of "publication" in Sec. 101 to include the concept of distribution by transmission. c. First Sale Doctrine. Amend Sec. 109 to make clear that the first sale doctrine does not apply to transmissions. 2. Technological Protection. Amend the Copyright Act to prohibit importation, manufacture and distribution of devices, or the offering or performance of services, if the primary purpose or effect is to circumvent technological protection of exclusive rights under Sec. 106. 3. Copyright Management Information. Amend Sec. 506 to prohibit fraudulent copyright management information and fraudulent removal or alteration of same. 4. Public Performance Right. Working Group supports pending bills (H.R. 2576 and S. 1421) that would add to the exclusive rights in a sound recording the right to perform or authorize the performance of the sound recording by digital transmission. 5. Fair Use. Working Group will sponsor an invitational conference this summer to bring together copyright owner and user interests to develop guidelines for fair uses of copyrighted works by and in public libraries and schools. Working group wants to ensure that public libraries and schools continue as safeguards against U.S. becoming nation of information "haves" and "have nots." 6. Licensing. Under current conditions additional compulsory licensing is neither necessary nor desirable. The marketplace should be allowed to develop whatever licensing systems may be appropriate for the NII. 7. International. Grant protection on basis of national treatment, without regard to origin of transmission or nationality of author. Develop appropriate IP rights regime. Span differences between continental and Anglo-American copyright systems. B. Technology. Foster interoperability and interconnectivity. Standardize copyright management and technological protection methods without diminishing IP rights. C. Education. Following its conference on fair use, the Working Group will sponsor a second invitational conference on IP education; purpose is to develop curricula that may be used in schools and libraries. In addition to the proposed conferences on fair use guidelines and intellectual property education, there will be public hearings in Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Los Angeles, probably in September, on the preliminary draft report. Written comments are due by September 7. ALA's response will be coordinated by the Committee on Legislation's Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Copyright, chaired by Edward J. Valauskas. Comments for consideration in ALA's response are welcome and should be SENT BY AUGUST 17 to the ALA Washington Office at alawash@alawash.org or by fax to 202-547- 7363. Single copies of the report may be requested by calling 703-305-9300, or writing to NII, USPTO, Box 4, Washington, DC 20231-0001. The press release indicated that the report would be available electronically through the Internet. However, as of this date, the document has not yet been posted to the IITF Bulletin Board. *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is an irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office, 110 Maryland Avenue, N.E., Washington, DC 20002-5675. Internet: alawash@alawash.org; Phone: 202-547-4440; Fax: 202-547-7363. Editor: Lee G. Enyart (lge@alawash.org). ALAWON is available free of charge and is available only in electronic form. To subscribe, send the message "subscribe ala-wo [your name]" to listserv@uicvm (Bitnet) or listserv@uicvm.uic.edu (Internet). Back issues and other documents are available from the list server. To find out what's available, send the message "send ala-wo filelist" to the listserv. The ALA-WO filelist contains the list of files with the exact filename and filetype. To get a particular file, issue the command "send filename filetype" to the listserv. Do not include the quotes in your commands. All materials in the newsletter subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. For other reprinting or redistribution, address requests to the ALA Washington Office (alawash@alawash.org). *************************************************************************** ***End of file******************End of file******************End of file***