A. Library Copyright Alliance Actively Engaged in Orphan Works Notice of Inquiry
B. Adler Testifies on Fair Use on Behalf of LCA
C. European Commission Issues Report on Database Protection Policy
D. Section 108 Study Group to Host Roundtables
E. ARL Launches Copyright Education Initiative
F. LCA Files Comments on 1201 Rulemaking
G. LCA Requests Hearings on the US Government’s Position on Broadcast Treaty
A. ARL Holds Symposium on the Future of Government Information in Libraries
B. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to Withhold Public Information
C. National Teleconference on Open Government
A. USA PATRIOT Act Update
A. CALEA Update
A. Humanities Advocacy Day Set for March 1–2, 2006
B. SPARC, ARL, and ATA on the National Institutes of Health Public Access Initiative
C. ARL, ALA, AALL, MLA, and SLA Support CURES Legislation
D. Appropriations Update
The Copyright Office is completing work on a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) concerning orphan works—works whose owner is difficult or impossible to locate. In the spring, the Library Copyright Alliance (LCA), of which ARL is a member, filed comments and reply comments on the NOI. These comments are available at http://www.arl.org/info/frn/copy/orphanedworks/LCAcomment0305.pdf and http://www.arl.org/info/frn/copy/orphanedworks/orphanreply.pdf.
In the fall, members of LCA met with staff of the Copyright Office to provide additional input to the Office’s deliberations. A report with recommendations on how to resolve issues surrounding orphan works will be completed by the Copyright Office by late January 2006. It is anticipated that Congress will take up the issue once the Copyright Office releases its report and recommendations.
ARL continues to be actively engaged in the orphan works inquiry. Additional information on orphan works and the streaming PowerPoint from the ARL, AALL, and MLA online conference “Orphan Works: Issues and Legislative Strategies” are available at http://www.arl.org/info/frn/copy/orphanedworks/index.html.
On November 16, Prue Adler, ARL Associate Executive Director for Public Policies, testified on behalf of the LCA regarding HR 1201, “The Digital Media Consumers Rights Act of 2005” (DMCRA). At a hearing on “Fair Use: Its Effects on Consumers and Industry” that was convened by the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection of the US House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, she testified about the importance of fair use in libraries. The testimony is available at http://www.arl.org/info/frn/copy/109legislation/psa_testimony.pdf. A webcast of the hearing that includes other testimonies is available at http://energycommerce.house.gov/108/Hearings/11162005hearing1716/hearing.htm. ARL continues to promote HR 1201.
The European Commission (EC) recently issued a report evaluating the success of the EU Database Directive. The EU directive was the model for legislation that would have provided intellectual property protection to facts that was introduced in the US in the 1990’s. The EC has aggressively promoted database protection internationally, particularly via the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). In a surprising reversal of its earlier position, the authors of the report noted, “The economic impact of the ‘sui generis’ right on database production is unproven. Introduced to stimulate the production of databases in Europe, the new instrument has had no proven impact on the production of databases.” In addition, “data…show that the EU database production in 2004 has fallen back to pre-Directive levels.” The report can be found at http://europa.eu.int/comm/internalmarket/copyright/docs/databases/evaluationreport_en.pdf.
The Section 108 Study Group has announced that it will host roundtables in Los Angeles on March 8 and in Washington, DC on March 16, 2006. The Study Group is examining the exceptions and limitations available to libraries and archives under Section 108 of the Copyright Act and considering changes to better meet the needs of libraries and archives in the digital environment.
The March roundtables will focus on four issues: (1) eligibility for the Section 108 exceptions, (2) exceptions for copies made for preservation and replacement purposes, (3) access to digital copies outside the premises of libraries and archives, and (4) separate treatment for unpublished materials. The LCA intends to be represented at these forums.
The Study Group is sponsored by the Library of Congress and the Copyright Office and is comprised of librarians, lawyers, and members of the commercial sector. James Neal, Vice President for Information Services and University Librarian, Columbia University Libraries, is a member of the Study Group.
Additional information concerning the Study Group and the issues that it is considering can be found at http://www.arl.org/info/frn/copy/resources.html and http://www.loc.gov/section108/.
ARL has engaged Peggy Hoon as Visiting Scholar for Campus Copyright and Intellectual Property projects. Her primary responsibility will be to lead the planning and development of a multi-phase ARL Copyright Education Initiative, targeted at ARL institutions. The initiative will offer information, resources, and tools that are reflective of library principles and goals and specifically targeted to major campus constituent groups. Given the broad scope of the initiative and the variety of potential audiences, the project will be developed and released in phases. Ms. Hoon holds a JD degree from the University of Washington and a BS degree in nursing from the University of Colorado. She is currently the Scholarly Communication Librarian and Special Assistant to the Provost for Copyright Administration at North Carolina State University.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) calls for a rulemaking every three years. The Librarian of Congress, in consultation with the Register of Copyrights and the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information, conducts an “on the record” rulemaking proceeding to determine whether users, including libraries and educational institutions, are, or are likely to be, “adversely affected” in their ability to make non-infringing uses of a particular class of copyrighted works.
The LCA filed comments with the Music Library Association (MLA) requesting two new exemptions to the anti-circumvention provisions of the Act in addition to a renewal of four exemptions that were granted in an earlier rulemaking in 2003. The LCA/MLA comments observed that the Copyright Office seemed to have moved away from the rigid applications of the “substantial adverse impact” standard that had been articulated in the previous rulemaking and had also qualified the standard for actual harm from always requiring a showing of “actual instances of verifiable problems” to “generally” requiring such a showing. The LCA/MLA comments are available at http://www.arl.org/info/frn/copy/1201comments05.html.
The US Patent and Trademark Office and the Copyright Office have been participating in treaty discussions conducted by WIPO on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations. On October 18, 2005, the LCA requested that key leaders of the US House of Representatives and Senate conduct hearings on the negotiating position of the US government with respect to the Broadcast Treaty. The letter is available at www.librarycopyrightalliance.org. The WIPO General Assembly recently decided to convene a diplomatic conference to finalize the Broadcast Treaty in 2006. ARL will continue to monitor the progress of the treaty.
In September and October, ARL presented two symposia on “The Future of Government Documents in ARL and Regional FDLP Libraries.” The George Washington University hosted the September 8–9 event in Washington, DC and the University of Washington hosted the October 6–7 event in Seattle. The symposia convened institutional teams composed of government information librarians and their immediate supervisors (directors or associate university librarians) to discuss issues and describe a preferred future for libraries’ role in providing access to government information. In total, 67 institutional teams and individuals from nearly 75 ARL and non-ARL libraries participated in the two events. During the event the participants
PowerPoint presentations are available from both events. For the September event see http://www.arl.org/training/institutes/govdocsagenda.html. For the October event see http://www.arl.org/training/institutes/govdocs2agenda.html. A report on the workshops that was presented by Shirley Baker, Washington University, St. Louis, and Ken Frazier, University of Wisconsin, at the October ARL Membership Meeting is available at http://www.arl.org/arl/proceedings/147/govdocup.html.
In a November 18, 2004, Federal Register Notice, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) proposed removal of selected aeronautical information from public distribution. NGA claimed that a growing number of international providers of this information were claiming intellectual property rights to some of the aeronautical data. Following extensive public comment, NGA has decided on a phased-in approach to the removal of NGA products. ARL’s response to the NGA proposal can be found at http://www.arl.org/info/frn/gov/arlgeo.html.
ARL is collaborating with other organizations to present a national teleconference on March 13, 2006, on the importance of transparency in government. The national teleconference Sunshine Week 2006: Are We Safer in the Dark? A National Dialogue on Open Government and Secrecy will include a panel of experts from around the country who will discuss open government and secrecy—the problems we are facing with it, how it impacts communities, and what the public can do about it.
A panel discussion will start in Washington, DC and link via satellite to locally hosted discussions in communities across the country. Locally sponsored programs in communities around the country will discuss issues of access in their communities and how to keep all levels of government open.
Regularly updated information, including registration, can be found at http://www.openthegovernment.org/article/subarchive/85. Groups in your area that are sponsoring a local program will be in the Directory of Registered Sites. Please contact Prue Adler (prue@arl.org) for additional information.
In late December, following long and oftentimes contentious debate, the US Senate blocked passage of the Conference Report on the reauthorization of the USA PATRIOT Act. Previously, the Senate passed a bipartisan reauthorization bill that provides better protections for an individual’s civil liberties while not impairing national security. The Senate version is far preferable to the bill passed by the House of Representatives and some key provisions in that bill were not reflected in the Conference Report. The House and Senate have until February 3, 2006, to resolve differences over the Conference Report. The final Conference Report should include
To focus attention on these key issues, January 25, 2006, was slated as National PATRIOT Act Call-In-Day. Individuals were encouraged to call their members of Congress and request their delegation’s support for the Senate language listed above prior to final House and Senate action on the USA PATRIOT Act. Calls are encouraged up until action is taken. Members of Congress may be reached via the Capitol switchboard number: 202-224-3121.
ARL, with others in the public and private sectors, is challenging a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) final Order on the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). Passed by Congress in 1994, CALEA addresses the concerns of the law enforcement community regarding the use of wiretaps in digital telephone networks and specifically provides law enforcement with additional powers to enhance government surveillance capabilities. Congress differentiated between traditional telephone services and the Internet, though, and did not make CALEA applicable to the Internet or information services such as e-mail and instant messaging.
In August 2005, the FCC decided that all facilities-based broadband Internet access providers would be subject to CALEA. Extending CALEA to providers of facilities-based broadband and VoIP would require research libraries and other institutions to make changes to their information systems to accommodate law enforcement. In filings before the FCC, ARL, ALA, and others have focused on how the proposal would inhibit innovation and compromise privacy, as well as be extremely costly for institutions that would have to reconfigure their networks to meet the goals of CALEA. The Center for Democracy and Technology, with ten other parties including ARL, filed a petition with the District of Columbia Court of Appeals for review of the FCC CALEA Order. In addition to this court action, ARL, ACRL, and ALA continue to file comments before the FCC in the regulatory process.
Humanities Advocacy Day, an annual event designed to communicate the importance of the humanities to members of Congress is slated for March 1–2, 2006. Thirty organizations, including ARL, sponsor Humanities Advocacy Day as a way to inform members of Congress on issues concerning federal support for research, preservation, public programs in the humanities, education, and related issues. This activity is also a key factor in garnering support for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Over two days of briefings and congressional visits, Humanities Advocacy Day helps build a network of advocates from a variety of institutions. For more information, please contact the National Humanities Alliance at 202-296-4994 or visit www.nhalliance.org/had/.
For the past year, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has been examining new ways to enhance public access to federally funded research. Following months of public input, on May 2, 2005, NIH released a public access policy to make the peer-reviewed electronic version of an author’s final manuscript (that results from research supported in whole or in part by NIH) available to the public free of charge on PubMed Central (PMC) within 12 months after publication in a scientific journal. The NIH policy strongly encourages authors to post for public accessibility as soon as possible. There are three goals to this NIH policy:
Based on a review of statistics detailing grantee deposit rates, the NIH Public Access Working Group, comprised of key stakeholders including members of the library community, recommended that researchers be required to deposit articles in PMC in lieu of the current policy which is voluntary. Ann Wolpert, Director of Libraries, MIT, is a member of the Working Group. The library community strongly supports this recommendation. ARL will continue to monitor the NIH policy and work with others in the community, SPARC and the Alliance for Taxpayer Access (ATA) in particular, on this evolving policy.
On December 15, 2005, ARL, ALA, AALL, MLA, and SLA praised the introduction of legislation to establish the American Center for Cures within NIH. The bill includes a provision that would help to make taxpayer-funded biomedical research available to all users.
Introduced on December 14, 2005, by Senators Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and Thad Cochran (R-MS), the bipartisan “American Center for Cures Act of 2005” would expedite the development of new therapies and cures for life-threatening diseases. One provision in the bill calls for free public access to articles stemming from research funded by agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), including NIH, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Under the proposed legislation, articles published in a peer-reviewed journal would be required to be made publicly available within 6 months via NIH’s PubMed Central online digital archive. The library associations note that although some final electronic manuscripts are made available on PubMed Central, many are not—and delays in posting research on PubMed sometimes thwart public access to important articles for up to a year. The library announcement is available at www.librarycopyrightalliance.org. ARL will promote the public access provision in the CURES legislation.
In late December 2005, Congress passed the Labor, Health, and Human Service and Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) received a 2.7% increase over FY 2005 or $247.144 million. For FY 2006, library programs received a $5 million increase over FY 2005 or $120.597 million with $163.746 million allocated to state grant programs, $12.375 million to National Leadership grants and $23.76 million to Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Initiative. ARL wrote in support of the IMLS appropriation for FY 2006. The letter is available at http://www.arl.org/info/frn/other/approp.html-INST.
The Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office (GPO) was allocated $33.303 million in FY 2006, a modest increase over the FY 2005 appropriation of $31.953 million. ARL’s and CLIR’s letter in support of the FY 2006 GPO budget requeset can be found at http://www.arl.org/info/frn/other/approp.html#GPO.
The Library of Congress (LC) received an increase in FY 2006 for a total of $561.7 million. ARL’s and CLIR’s letter in support of LC’s FY 2006 request can be found at http://www.arl.org/info/frn/other/approp.html#CONGRESS.
Legislation, HR 4446, the “Legislative Branch Officer Appointment Act of 2005,” has been introduced that would establish new appointment practices for the Librarian of Congress, the Architect of the Capitol, and the Comptroller General. Currently, the Librarian of Congress is appointed by the President. Under provisions in HR 4446, the Librarian would be appointed by the leadership of the House and Senate and be appointed for a renewable ten-year term.
On December 21, 2005, the Senate unanimously confirmed National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Chair Bruce Cole to a second four-year term. Cole is the second individual to be nominated and confirmed to a second term as the Chair of the Endowment.
NEH awarded $12 million in grants or offers of matching funds in support of “REcovering Iraq’s Past” ($385,060), the US Newspaper Program ($992,559), Fellowships and Faculty Research Awards ($6,368,000), and Preservation and Access ($4,244,650). A listing of the awards is available at http://www.neh.gov/news/archive/20051221.html.
NEH awarded $565,000 for furricane-related relief to libraries, museums, colleges, universities, and other cultural and historical institutions.
The National Agricultural Library (NAL) was allocated $22.855 million in FY 2006, an increase of $200,000. Unfortunately, the across the board recission resulted in no increase for the library. ARL’s and ALA’s letter in support of NAL’s FY 2006 budget request can be found at http://www.arl.org/info/frn/other/approp.html#NAL.
PSA 1/26/06