ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline Volume 7, Number 155 December 17, 1998 In this issue: [1] "Final Report to the Commissioner on the Conclusion of Conference on Fair Use" Available [2] Distance Education Study Update; U.S. Copyright Office to Hold Hearings in Late January [1] "Final Report to the Commissioner on the Conclusion of Conference on Fair Use" Available The Conference on Fair Use (CONFU) was initiated in the fall of 1994 under the auspices of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Its purpose was to facilitate informal discussions regarding the parameters of fair use in the educational and library environments among copyright proprietors and members of the information user community. Over the last four years, representatives of more than four dozen organizations narrowed nearly two dozen possible guideline topics down to three: digital images, distance learning and educational multimedia materials. While CONFU was ultimately judged to be a useful communication vehicle, none of the drafts circulated received sufficiently wide support in both the public and private sectors to justify their submission to Congress for inclusion in appropriate legislative history. The complete administrative history of CONFU (and a summary of the topics discussed) is available online and in print format as the "Final Report to the Commissioner on the Conclusion of Conference on Fair Use." Prepared by staff to USPTO Commissioner Bruce A. Lehman, the Report chronicles the CONFU process. Single copies of the report, as well as the previously published interim report (December 1996), and the "Report on the Conclusion of the First Phase of Conference on Fair Use" (September 1997) may be obtained free of charge by sending or faxing a written request to: CONFU Report, c/o Richard Maulsby, Director, Office of Public Affairs, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Washington, D.C. 20231. Fax: 703-308-5258. The reports are also available online at http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/dcom/olia/confu/. For more on the position taken on the proposed CONFU guidelines by ALA in concert with more than a dozen other national library and educational organizations, see the May 1997 CONFU Joint Statement at http://www.ala.org/washoff/confu.html. [2] Distance Education Study Update; U.S. Copyright Office to Hold Hearings in Late January In the November 19, 1998 ALAWON (see http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon/alwn7145.html) we reported that the U.S. Copyright Office had requested to hear from interested parties interested in participating in a Congressionally mandated study to promote distance education (see the November 16 Federal Register notice, v63, n223, November 16, 1998, pp. 63749-50). At the study's conclusion in late April 1999, the Copyright Office will submit recommendations to Congress, possibly including the first major changes to the distance education section of the Copyright Act since 1976. ALA and its Association of College and Research Libraries both filed brief letters of interest to the Copyright Office. To date the ALA Washington Office has received nearly three dozen copies of filings from universities nationwide. Libraries or institutions that responded to the Copyright Office's November 16 notice, or who still plan to do so are encouraged to send a copy of their response to the ALA Washington Office. In the next step of its study, the Copyright Office will hold a demonstration on distance education technology on Monday, January 25 in Washington, D.C. On January 26 and 27 they will hold hearings in Washington on distance education issues. Field hearings will be held Wednesday, February 10 at UCLA and on Friday, February 12 in Chicago. We will post more details on these events as they become available. ****** 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 or go to http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. 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. Editor: Lynne E. Bradley; Managing Editor: Deirdre Herman; Contributors: Mary Costabile, Adam Eisgrau, Anne Heanue, Carol Henderson, Peter Kaplan, Claudette Tennant and Rick Weingarten.