================================================================= ALAWON Volume 7, Number 57 ISSN 1069-7799 June 1, 1998 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (135 lines) ACTION ALERT: URGE HOUSE MEMBERS TO COSPONSOR COPYRIGHT BILL, H.R. 3048 _________________________________________________________________ ACTION ALERT: URGE HOUSE MEMBERS TO COSPONSOR COPYRIGHT BILL, H.R. 3048 There will be a hearing on copyright treaty legislation (WIPO Copyright Treaties Implementation Act, H.R. 2281) this Friday, June 5 by the House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade and Consumer Protection. This hearing provides an opportunity to seek adjustments in the bill, particularly to protect fair use in the digital environment. H.R. 2281 unfortunately lacks such provisions in the form already approved by the House Judiciary Committee. The Digital Era Copyright Enhancement Act (H.R. 3048) would maintain balance in the Copyright Act while fully protecting fair use and other critical exceptions to proprietors' exclusive rights, as well as access to the technology needed to exercise fair use. Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA), the sponsor of H.R. 3048, is a member of the Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade and Consumer Protection. ACTION NEEDED: An effective way to support Rep. Boucher's efforts is to help increase the number of cosponsors of H.R. 3048. If you have not yet contacted your Representative with this request, or if you have made such a request but have not received a response and do not see your legislator listed among the cosponsors listed below, please do so now. This would be timely follow-up to your National Library Legislative Day visits. ASK YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TO COSPONSOR H.R. 3048: Nearly 50 Representatives from both parties and every sector of the political spectrum have already agreed to cosponsor H.R. 3048, the Digital Copyright Era Enhancement Act, by Reps. Rick Boucher (D-VA) and Tom Campbell (R-CA). H.R. 3048 is strongly supported by ALA, the Digital Future Coalition, and librarians nationwide who have called and faxed their Representatives seeking support for this landmark bill. Those efforts are paying off, so please keep those contacts coming, especially this week and for the next few weeks while the Commerce Committee has jurisdiction on the legislation. For additional information, see the ALA Washington Office web site at http://www.ala.org/washoff/ip.html or the Digital Future Coalition web site at http://www.dfc.org/. For further information contact ALA Legislative Counsel Adam M. Eisgrau at the ALA Washington Office, 800-941-8478 or email: ame@alawash.org. CURRENT H.R. 3048 COSPONSORS ST-DST PTY REPRESENTATIVE CA-6 D Lynn C. Woolsey CA-12 D Tom Lantos CA-15 R Tom Campbell CA-31 D Matthew G. Martinez CA-34 D Esteban Torres CA-45 R Dana Rohrabacher CA-46 D Loretta Sanchez CA-49 R Brian P. Bilbray CO-2 D David E. Skaggs CO-4 R Dan Schaefer CT-4 R Christopher Shays CT-5 D James H. Maloney DE-1 R Michael N. Castle FL-3 D Corrine Brown FL-5 D Karen Thurman GA-10 R Charles W. Norwood IL-5 D Rod R. Blagojevich IL-17 D Lane Evans MD-8 R Constance A. Morella MA-2 D Richard E. Neal MI-9 D Dale E. Kildee MN-3 R Jim Ramstad MN-7 D Collin C. Peterson MS-1 R Roger F. Wicker MO-7 R Roy Blunt NJ-6 D Frank Pallone NY-10 D Edolphus Towns NY-11 D Major R. Owens NY-25 R James T. Walsh NC-2 D Bob Etheridge OH-10 D Dennis J. Kucinich OH-13 D Sherrod Brown OH-19 R Steve C. LaTourette OR-1 D Elizabeth Furse OR-3 D Earl Blumenauer OR-4 D Peter A. DeFazio PA-14 D William J. Coyne PA-15 D Paul McHale SC-5 D John M. Spratt SC-6 D James E. Clyburn TN-2 R John J. Duncan TX-1 D Max Sandlin TX-4 D Ralph M. Hall VA-2 D Owen B. Pickett VA-9 D Rick Boucher WA-7 D Jim McDermott WV-3 D Nick J. Rahall WI-2 R Scott L. Klug _________________________________________________________________ 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 listproc @ala.org. To unsubscribe, send the message: unsubscribe ala-wo to listproc@ala.org. ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/ washoff/alawon. Visit our Web site at http://www.alawash.org. 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 Deirdre Herman, Managing Editor Contributors: Carol C. Henderson All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================