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 The ARLIS/NA Executive Board has endorsed a statement prepared by the Public Policy Committee in response to proposed US legislation intended to prevent piracy of intellectual property:

“The Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) urges the US Congress to craft legislation that strikes a balance between combating copyright infringement and intellectual property theft and preserving the open flow of information through electronic means.

Proposed legislation such as the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA, H.R. 3261) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA, S. 968) is intended to prevent foreign websites from making counterfeit and pirated content available, but as written, the laws would allow the US Department of Justice to compel US-based Internet service providers, credit card companies, and advertisers to cut ties with suspected Web sites before confirmation of infringement or theft, thus potentially restricting access to legitimate sources. The legislation would adversely affect internet service providers who would bear the economic burden of prosecution from copyright holders and suffer curtailment of revenue sources and provide greater incentive for Internet service providers to increase surveillance of users’ online activity, a potential violation of privacy.

Existing legislation, including the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, already provides the legal authority to remove specific instances of pirated content from a Web site; the proposed laws would penalize legitimate sites that may have inadvertently carried links to pirated material.

ARLIS/NA joins the American Library Association and the Association of Law Librarians in support of legislation such as the Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade (OPEN) Act (H.R. 3782 and S. 2029) that expands the power of the International Trade Commission’s authority to enforce copyright and trademark violations without jeopardizing privacy and first amendment rights to free speech.”

For more information:

·         American Library Association Washington Office: PIPA, SOPA, and the OPEN Act Quick Reference Guide

·         American Association of Law Libraries Legislative Action Center Page on PIPA and SOPA