Association of Research Libraries (ARL®)

May 7, 1997

Peter N. Fowler, Attorney-Advisor
Office of Legislative and International Affairs
U.S. Patent & Trademark Office
Box 4
Washington, DC 20231

Dear Peter:

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) participated in the Conference on Fair Use (CONFU) since its inception nearly two years ago. We appreciate the opportunity to have participated in this effort and believe it has provided a useful exchange of information among CONFU participants. Member leaders of the 120 ARL institutions have been provided regular opportunities to review working drafts of the proposals for educational fair use guidelines. Upon receipt of the December 1996 CONFU Interim Report, ARL circulated the final proposals to seek recommendations for possible endorsement. Based on review by our members, ARL concluded that it cannot endorse the proposals for distance learning, digital images, and educational multimedia guidelines. Moreover, the ARL Board of Directors affirmed that ARL should not endorse any copyright guidelines that they believe do not fully protect the fair use rights of the scholarly and education communities. Given the lack of wide and deep consensus among CONFU participants on these proposed guidelines, we recommend they not be included in documents transmitted to legislators on Capitol Hill, nor included in any legislative vehicle.

Enclosed please find brief summaries describing specific reasons why ARL cannot endorse the proposed guidelines. We request that this letter and these statements (including our earlier statement on electronic reserves) be included in the final CONFU report.

Fair use is a long-standing doctrine, codified in the 1976 Copyright Act, that allows certain uses of copyrighted materials without infringement. Fair use and related library and educational exemptions are the foundation of the scholarly communication process and allow educational institutions and their individual members to carry out their teaching and research missions. ARL believes our participation in CONFU was critical to ensure that the existing balance between copyright owners and users in the print environment be carried over to the electronic environment.

ARL is convinced that consensus on the fair use of copyrighted digital works is an important goal and we are working with others within the educational community on a set of principles in this arena. If, however, a more formal process is established that includes all stakeholders, commercial and educational, we would want to participate to help ensure that the implications for fair use and other educational exemptions are fully addressed. ARL believes fair use is a critical element in the balance between the needs of copyright holders and the needs of users and we will continue our efforts to see that it remains a central element in U.S. copyright law.

Sincerely,

Duane E. Webster
Executive Director
Association of Research Libraries

cc: Cameron Kitchin, Contact, Digital Images Working Group
Lolly Gasaway, Contact, Distance Learning Working Group
Lisa Livingston, Contact, Educational Multimedia Working Group

Enclosures:
Digital Images Fair Use Guidelines: A Summary of Concerns
Distance Learning Fair Use Guidelines: A Summary of Concerns
Educational Fair Use Guidelines for Multimedia: A Summary of Concerns
Electronic Reserves Fair Use Guidelines: A Summary of Concerns

Back to CONFU