================================================================= ALAWON Volume 6, Number 1 ISSN 1069-7799 January 3, 1997 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (124 lines) AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION POSITION ON FAIR USE GUIDELINES IN A DIGITAL INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT _________________________________________________________________ AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION POSITION ON FAIR USE GUIDELINES IN A DIGITAL INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT In a time of rapid technological and policy evolution, the American Library Association has concluded that it is premature to formalize guidelines for the fair use of copyrighted materials in a digital information environment. Fair use is an important element in maintaining the balance that current law embodies and that ALA has always sought in copyright policy between the legitimate needs of copyright proprietors and users of copyrighted materials in the interests of the development and spread of knowledge. Fair use is the long-standing doctrine, codified in the 1976 Copyright Act, that allows the use of copyrighted materials without infringement under certain circumstances, especially for purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research. Fair use guidelines, such as earlier sets of guidelines for interlibrary loan and for use of copyrighted materials in the classroom, have proven helpful to practitioners. ALA has participated in good faith in recent attempts to develop fair use guidelines in various areas through the CCUMC (Consortium of College and University Media Centers) and CONFU (Conference on Fair Use) processes. Considerable time, energy, and resources have been expended by ALA and other organizations in pursuit of agreement through these efforts over the past few years. These opportunities for representatives of library, educational, and proprietor communities to come together have facilitated better understanding among interested parties. Nevertheless, because information and communication technologies are continuing rapidly to evolve, and because of the degree to which healthy experimentation is underway, ALA does not recommend formal guidelines for fair use in a digital information environment at this time. This state of flux is underscored by the widely disparate reactions of ALA members to recent draft and "final" guidelines such the "Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia" issued in 1996 by the CCUMC, and the various draft guidelines developed by CONFU working groups. Fair use and other exceptions to proprietor rights are a critical part of copyright law and are essential to implementation of the constitutional grant of limited copyright to advance science and the useful arts. While changes in the details of intellectual property policy are under active debate to adapt to new technologies, the broad principles that fair use and other exceptions represent in the interests of the advancement and spread of knowledge need acknowledgment and protection. Thus, it is premature to formalize fair use guidelines. Doing so may unduly restrain the proper application of fair use in the educational and research environments. ALA recognizes the need of its members for guidance in this complex and fast moving intellectual technology arena. However, the process of trying to develop guidelines has demonstrated to ALA that there is no guarantee as to what degree practitioners could rely on fair use guidelines in new technology areas. Such guidelines may restrain fair use more than their developers intended. ALA believes that for copyright policy to remain balanced, fair use must be fully protected and encouraged to evolve in the digital information environment. To assist practitioners at this pivotal time, ALA will, together with other library associations, investigate the development of guiding principles and examples of current practices in the appropriate use of, and in licensing agreements for, digital information resources. ALA will promote respect for copyright law, including the importance of fair use to the American public. #### The ALA Executive Board, based on advice from the ALA Committee on Legislation, took unanimous action to this effect on November 4, 1996, and urged the development of a statement on fair use guidelines. This document is the result. The American Library Association is a nonprofit educational organization of 58,000 librarians, library trustees, and friends of libraries dedicated to the improvement of library services and the promotion of the public's right to a free and open information society. For further information, contact Adam Eisgrau, Legislative Counsel, ALA Washington Office, e-mail: ame@alawash.org, phone: 202-628-8410; fax 202-628-8419. _________________________________________________________________ ALAWON is a free, e-mail publication of the American Library Association Washington Office providing urgent and late-breaking news from Washington, D.C. To subscribe, send the message: subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname] to listproc @ala.org or visit http://www.ala.org/washoff/subscribe.html. ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon/. ALA Washington Office 202.628.8410 (V) 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, #403 202.628.8419 (F) Washington, DC 20004-1701 800.941.8478 (V) Lynne E. Bradley, Editor leb@alawash.org Deirdre Herman, Managing Editor alawash@alawash.org Contributors: Adam Eisgrau Carol C. Henderson All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================