ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline Volume 15, Number 17 February 16, 2006 In This Issue: Public Roundtables on March 8 and 16, 2006, on Copyright Exceptions for Libraries And Archives *** Please circulate widely *** The Library of Congress last year convened a "Section 108 Study Group" to prepare findings and make recommendations to the Librarian of Congress by mid-2006 for possible alterations to the copyright law that reflect current technologies. The group is named after the section of the U.S. Copyright Act that provides certain exceptions for libraries and archives. Several representatives of the library community are members of the Study Group. The Study Group is reaching out to the library, archives, rights- holder, and creative communities for input on recommendations for revising the current library and archives exceptions. As part of that process, the Study Group will host two days of roundtables in 2006 for interested parties to offer suggestions and comments on how best to revise these exceptions for the digital era. Where & when: March 8 (Wednesday) in Los Angeles, California, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. P.S.T.- University of California-Los Angeles School of Law, Room 1314, Los Angeles, CA 90095. March 16 (Thursday) in Washington, D.C., from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. E.S.T. - Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2237, Washington, D.C. 20515 How to participate: Requests to participate in either roundtable must be received by the Section 108 Study Group by 5:00 p.m. E.S.T. on February 24, 2006. Additional information about the Roundtables is available in the Federal Register on February 15, 2006 http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/WOissues/copyrightb/copyright.htm#l inks and on the Section 108 Study Group website, www.loc.gov/section108. For those who cannot participate in person, comments may be submitted to the Study Group directly via the website. Members of the public may attend the Roundtables even if they do not intend to speak on particular issues. What are the issues? Section 108 of the Copyright Act permits libraries and archives to make certain uses of copyrighted materials in order to serve the public and ensure the availability of works over time. Among other things, section 108 allows libraries and archives to make copies in specified instances for preservation, replacement and patron use. These provisions were drafted with analog materials in mind, and therefore do not adequately address many of the issues unique to digital media, either from the perspective of rights-holders or libraries and archives. The March roundtables will address four general issues: (1) eligibility for the section 108 exceptions, (2) proposal to amend subsections 108(b) and (c) to allow access outside the premises in limited circumstances, (3) proposal for a new exception for preservation- only/restricted access copying, (4) proposal for a new exception for the preservation of websites. Background information and a more detailed discussion of the issues can be found in the document titled "Information for the March 2006 Public Roundtables and Request for Written Comments" http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/WOissues/copyrightb/copyright.htm#l inks. We urge you to read this background document in order to obtain a full understanding of the issues surrounding the topics to be discussed and to provide appropriate input through written comments or participation in the roundtable discussions. Other general topics pertaining to Section 108 exceptions – such as making copies upon patron request, interlibrary loan, eReserves and licensing – may be the subject of future public roundtables. ****** 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, 1615 New Hampshire Ave., N.W., First Floor, Washington, D.C. 20009-2520; phone: 202.628.8410 or 800.941.8478 toll-free; fax: 202.628.8419; Web site: http://www.ala.org/washoff. Executive Director: Emily Sheketoff. Office of Government Relations: Lynne Bradley, Director; Don Essex, Melanie Anderson, Erin Haggerty, Patrice McDermott and Miriam Nisbet. Office for Information Technology Policy: Rick Weingarten, Director; Carrie Lowe, Kathy Mitchell, Carrie Russell. ALAWON Editor: Bernadette Murphy.