ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline Volume 11, Number 33 April 16, 2002 In This Issue: [1] Update on Copyright Term Extension and call for action [2] Correction to April 9 ALAWON [1] Update on Copyright Term Extension and call for action Call for action: We need your assistance in identifying examples of problems that you face with the extension of copyright term and with the delay of information resources moving into the public domain. Summary: Much to the surprise of many legal scholars, on February 19, 2002, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Eldred v. Ashcroft, a case which challenges the constitutionality of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA). In 1998, Congress through the CTEA, extended the copyright term of protection an additional twenty years from the life of the author plus 50 to life plus 70. For works for hire, the new term is 95 years. The CTEA has resulted in a significant decline in works entering the public domain--resources critically important to the research and education enterprise. Indeed, an editorial in the Washington Post notes, "...the resulting terms are far too long to cordon off works that should long since have entered the public domain, to mingle with, be reshaped by and enrich the general culture." Background of Case: Lawrence Lessig, Professor of Law, Stanford University Law School, has been at the forefront of the CTEA challenge and has written extensively about copyright issues. In February 2001, a federal appeals court found that the extensions of the terms of protection by Congress were permissible under the Copyright Clause of the U.S. Constitution and rejected the argument that CTEA is unconstitutional. The Court found that Congress' grant of an additional twenty years, for existing works as well as for future works, was constitutional as it was "limited." The Constitution empowers Congress to grant copyright protection for "limited times" as a means of "promoting" the arts and sciences. In Eldred, Lessig and others argue that Congress violated this clause by "creating in practice an unlimited term" for copyrights. Libraries/Archivists/DFC's Amicus Brief: ARL, along with the American Library Association, the American Association of Law Libraries, the Digital Future Coalition, the Medical Library Association, and the Society of American Archivists filed an amici curiae brief on December 13, 2001, requesting that the Supreme Court take the case. Our brief was written by students at the Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Law Clinic, Washington College of Law, under the guidance of Professors Peter Jaszi and Ann Shalleck. The brief is available at http://www.ala.org/washoff/eldredvashcroft.pdf. Additional information concerning term extension is available at http://www.ala.org/washoff/eldred.html. A number of other organizations also filed briefs requesting that the Court accept the case. Now that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case, members of the Shared Legal Capability (ARL, AALL, ALA, MLA, and SLA) will be filing an amicus brief. Its purpose will be to explain the impact of the twenty-year extension on the public domain and the deleterious impact on access to information that supports scholarship and teaching. We will again be joined by the Society of American Archivists. Other associations, organizations, and institutions have expressed an interest in joining the brief. In addition, there will be a number of other briefs filed that challenge the CTEA from different perspectives. Technically, the briefs must be filed by May 20, 2002, but we need a response from you by no later than May 10 in order to use your information in the brief. Oral arguments before the Supreme Court will occur in the fall of 2002. What we need from you: To strengthen our amicus brief, it is very important to include examples of the following: 1) titles or list of works that your library or a member of the faculty had hoped to use (e.g., digitization projects or materials for a course) that would have fallen into the public domain but are now covered by the additional extension 2) difficulties you may have encountered in obtaining permissions for older works and /or for those that are now covered by the 20-year extension; this could include difficulties in tracking owners/ownership information of older materials, expensive fees, and the like. We need a response from you by no later than May 10 in order to use your information in the brief. Please contact Carol Ashworth (cashworth@alawash.org). Thank you very much for your assistance. This is a very important endeavor for our community. [2]Correction to ALAWON of April 9th The ALAWON of April 9 (volume 11 number 28) listed directions to find the Literacy through School Libraries grant information. The Department of Education Web site takes the viewer to a screen with two choices, the "No Child Left Behind" website or the U.S. Department of Education website. Click on the US Department of Education website. Find "grants and contracts," click on the section "Finding and Applying." Under "Finding" click on "Forecast of Funding Opportunities Education Discretionary Programs." Then scroll down to find the Literacy Through School Libraries Program under Elementary and Secondary Education. ****** ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. To subscribe to ALAWON, send the message: subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname] to listproc@ala.org or go to http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. To unsubscribe to ALAWON, send the message: unsubscribe ala-wo to listproc@ala.org. ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. ALA Washington Office, 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite 403, Washington, D.C. 20004-1701; phone: 202.628.8410 or 800.941.8478 toll-free; fax: 202.628.8419; e-mail: alawash@alawash.org; Web site: http://www.ala.org/washoff. Executive Director: Emily Sheketoff. Office of Government Relations: Lynne Bradley, Director; Camille Bowman, Mary Costabile, Don Essex, and Miriam Nisbet. Office for Information Technology Policy: Rick Weingarten, Director; Jennifer Hendrix, Carrie Russell, Claudette Tennant. ALAWON Editor: Bernadette Murphy.