****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 49 September 12, 1994 In this issue: (164 lines) ALA COMMENTS ON DRAFT REPORT ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND NII INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY HEARINGS, FAIR USE CONFERENCE SCHEDULED ALA COMMENTS ON NII APPLICATIONS WORKING GROUP REPORT *************************************************************************** ALA COMMENTS ON DRAFT REPORT ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND NII In a September 2 letter from President Arthur Curley, ALA submitted comments on _Intellectual Property and the National Information Infrastructure_, the preliminary draft report of the Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights of the White House Information Infrastructure Task Force. The report was issued for public comment in July; the Working Group is headed by Bruce Lehman, Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks. The draft report recommended several changes in copyright law to extend owners' exclusive rights to include electronic transmission. The cumulative effect would be a considerable expansion of owners' rights and a narrowing of certain limitations on those rights. ALA's comments, coordinated by the Committee on Legislation's Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Copyright, were summarized in three key points: 1. A BALANCED POLICY FRAMEWORK IS ESSENTIAL FOR THE NII. This policy framework must balance protection of the interests of intellectual property rights holders with the presumption in favor of free dissemination of ideas embedded in the First Amendment and the intellectual property clause of the Constitution. 2. EXPANDED LIMITATIONS MUST ACCOMPANY EXPANDED RIGHTS. No expansion of copyright holders' rights to include electronic transmission should be enacted without enactment of corresponding limitations on those rights in areas such as fair use, classroom use, and library use. Marginalizing these interests, now protected in the Constitution and the Copyright Act, to a conference for the development of nonstatutory guidelines will not maintain balance. 3. A NEW CONTU IS NEEDED. ALA urged the Working Group to recommend to Congress enactment of a new National Commission on New Technological Uses (CONTU) of copyrighted works. The complexity of the copyright problems raised by the NII technology surpasses those of the photocopying and early computer technologies that led to the creation by Congress of CONTU in 1974. A new CONTU is needed to conduct studies, compile data, and better justify needed changes in copyright law both to assure public access to material disseminated via the NII and to respect the rights of owners of copyrighted works. *************************************************************************** INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY HEARINGS, FAIR USE CONFERENCE SCHEDULED The Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights of the White House Information Infrastructure Task Force has announced a series of hearings on its preliminary draft report (see article above). Public hearings are scheduled as follows: September 14, Chicago, 9-5, University of Chicago, Ida Noyes Hall, 1212 East 59th Street. September 16, Los Angeles, 9-5, University of California, 1100 Schoenberg Hall, 405 Hilgard Avenue. September 22-23, Washington, DC, 9-5, Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, Constitution Avenue between 12th and 14th Streets, N.W.. Edward J. Valauskas, chair of ALA's Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Copyright Chair, has requested to testify at the September 14 hearing in Chicago, and together with the ALA Washington Office, is coordinating recommendations with several other library and scholarly associations. See the August 19 _Federal Register_, p. 42819, for further information. The deadline for written comments on the draft report was September 7, but reply comments will be accepted until September 28. The Patent and Trademark Office has scheduled an invitational conference on educational and library fair use in the NII context, as called for in the Working Group's draft report. The initial session is scheduled for September 21 at 12:30 p.m. in the Departmental Auditorium, Dept. of Commerce, 14th Street & Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC. Further sessions are anticipated. ALA has been invited to participate. The notice indicates that the purpose of the conference "is to seek to develop--in the context of the digital networked environment--guidelines on the use of copyrighted works that might supplement the existing classroom, music, CONTU and off-air taping guidelines that may be found in the legislative history of the copyright law." The public is welcome, according to the invitation, and time permitting, may ask questions or make brief remarks. *************************************************************************** ALA COMMENTS ON NII APPLICATIONS WORKING GROUP REPORT In an August 15 letter from President Arthur Curley, ALA commented on the report from the White House Information Infrastructure Task Force Committee on Applications and Technology, entitled _Putting Information Infrastructure to Work_. The report was issued in May for public comment; Arati Prabhakar, director of the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology, chairs the IITF Committee. The report described seven key application areas, including libraries, lifelong learning, and government services. The ALA comments, coordinated by the Committee on Legislation and its Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Telecommunications, focused on the chapter, "Libraries and the NII," but also reflected a review of other chapters, and input from additional ALA units and members. The letter said ALA was pleased to see that the library role and contributions were clearly identified and highlighted. However, in addition to specific comments, ALA made three major recommendations: 1. That the report include a broader vision of what the library role is today. Language was recommended describing how libraries use the new media to educate, involve and empower their diverse constituents. 2. That the report broaden its view of the library contribution to NII goals. ALA supported the report's acknowledgement of the library's equity role, but also noted library contributions as including organization and evaluation of information, training and education of the public, aid to business for economic development, support for health care and education, etc. 3. That the federal government initiate a baseline study or measure of the current state of equity of access to information to help shape federal investments and programs for addressing potential problems with equity of access. *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** 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). 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