================================================================= ALAWON Volume 5, Number 57 ISSN 1069-7799 September 13, 1996 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (92 lines) SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE TAKES UP PROPOSAL TO ELIMINATE THE LC COPYRIGHT OFFICE: ACTION ALERT_________________________________________________________________ SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE TAKES UP PROPOSAL TO ELIMINATE THE LC COPYRIGHT OFFICE: ACTION ALERT The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing this Wednesday, September 18 on a package of largely patent-related proposals in the Omnibus Patent Act (S. 1961). The package contains a proposal to create a new government intellectual property corporation. While ALA has not taken a position on the merits of this proposal, we believe that congressional action to create such a corporation is premature. Moreover, the proposal contains a provision which ALA and many other library organizations strongly oppose--eliminating the Library of Congress' Copyright Office and transfering its functions to the new intellectual property corporation. ALA has alerted congressional staff that such a move would seriously jeopardize the continued expansion of the Library's collection and would deprive the legislative branch of the Copyright Office's contribution to balanced copyright law. Reportedly the committee may move to immediately mark up this legislation in an effort to move it through the full Senate in these last weeks of the 104th Congress. ACTION ALERT: Members are strongly encouraged to contact the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee below to underscore the following critical points: 1. ALA has taken no position regarding patent portion of the S. 1961. 2. It is premature, however, for Congress to create an intellectual property organization without ample hearings in the next Congress. 3. If the Senate Judiciary Committee meets to consider S. 1961, the provisions of the bill, which would eliminate the U.S. Copyright Office within the Library of Congress, should be completely stricken from the bill. SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEES MEMBERS: St. Senator Phone Fax (use 202 area code) AL Howell Heflin 224-4124 224-3149 AZ Jon Kyl 224-4521 228-1239 CA Dianne Feinstein 224-3841 228-3954 CO Hank Brown 224-5941 224-6471 DE Joseph R. Biden 224-5042 224-0139 IA Charles E. Grassley 224-3744 224-6020 IL Paul Simon 224-2152 224-0868 MA Edward M. Kennedy 224-4543 224-2417 MI Spencer Abraham 224-4822 224-8834 OH Mike DeWine 224-2315 224-6519 PA Arlen Specter 224-4254 228-1229 SC Strom Thurmond 224-5972 224-1300 TN Fred Thompson 224-4944 228-3679 UT Orrin G. Hatch 224-5251 224-6331 VT Patrick J. Leahy 224-4242 224-3595 WI Herb Kohl 224-5653 224-9787 WI Russell D. Feingold 224-5323 224-2725 WY Alan K. Simpson 224-3424 224-1315 _________________________________________________________________ ALAWON is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. To subscribe, send the message "subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname]" to . ALAWON archives gopher.ala.org; select Washington Office Newsline. Web page http://www.alawash.org/ ALA Washington Office 202.628.8410 (V) 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, #403 202.628.8419 (F) Washington, DC 20004-1701 Lynne E. Bradley, Editor Contributors: Adam M. Eisgrau All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================