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FYI - Part 2, Fowarded from ALAWON.
Katy
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Date: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 18:47:08 -0500
From: ALAWASH E-MAIL (ALAWASH E-MAIL) <[log in to unmask]>
To: ALA Washington Office Newsline <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: ALAWON v7, n19 - ACTION ALERT: MARKUPS OF IP BILLS IMMINENT
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ALAWON Volume 7, Number 19
ISSN 1069-7799 February 20, 1998
American Library Association Washington Office Newsline
In this issue: (210 lines)
IMMEDIATE ACTION ALERT: PREMATURE MARKUPS OF TWO INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY BILLS IMMINENT; COSPONSORS NEEDED FOR H.R. 3048 LIBRARY
BILL
Note: This message, and important supporting material, has been
transmitted in 2 parts. This ALAWON is part 2 of 2.
_________________________________________________________________
IMMEDIATE ACTION ALERT:
PREMATURE MARKUPS OF TWO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY BILLS IMMINENT;
COSPONSORS NEEDED FOR H.R. 3048 LIBRARY BILL
OPPOSE H.R. 2652, "COLLECTION OF INFORMATION ANTIPIRACY ACT"
BACKGROUND: In late October of last year, ALA Executive Board
member James Neal -- testifying on behalf of ALA, AALL, ARL, MLA,
and SLA -- told the House Courts and Intellectual Property
Subcommittee that H.R. 2652, the "Collection of Information
Antipiracy Act," would afford dangerously sweeping new legal
protection to compilations of facts not sufficiently original to
merit copyright protection at the expense of scholarship,
research and public access to information generally. Mr. Neal
also noted that the proponents of the legislation had failed to
make the necessary threshold showing of real harm prerequisite to
such a dramatic expansion of the rights of database compilers.
At a second hearing on H.R. 2652 on February 12, similar
objections to the bill and near-term Subcommittee action on it
were raised by members of both the public and private sector,
including major database owners. Proponents once again offered
no evidence of actual or concrete market failure. Nonetheless,
Subcommittee Chairman Howard Coble (R-NC) announced his intention
to bring this bill to a vote (or "markup") in the House Courts
and Intellectual Property Subcommittee by mid-March. Mr. Coble
also indicated his intention to draft amendments to reduce the
bill's adverse impact on scholarship, research and public access
to information.
_________________________________________________________________
KEY LIBRARY CONCERNS WITH H.R. 2652, THE "COLLECTION OF
INFORMATION ANTIPIRACY ACT" (COURTESY OF ARL)
* There continues to be no compelling research detailing the
need for additional new protections.
* There has been no demonstrated need for new intellectual
property protections for "electronic collections and other
collections of factual material." Industry statistics demonstrate
that the database arena enjoys a thriving and robust marketplace,
indeed, one that is growing quite significantly. Many in the
not-for-profit and commercial sectors believe that adequate forms of
protection exist -- copyright, contracts, and increasingly,
technological measures.
* The legislation encompasses a vast array of information, in
part because provisions in the legislation go well beyond the
traditional misappropriation doctrine.
* The prohibitions in this legislation would go beyond the
sphere of commercial competition, to reach the activities of
individual consumers and not-for-profit institutions. This casts
a wide net and could conceivably chill the legitimate use of
databases and related collections.
* Greater definition of key terms is needed and the relationship
between H.R. 2652 and the copyright statute requires
clarification to understand the full scope of the legislation
* Key terms are poorly or are not defined in H.R. 2652. For
example, the definition of information included in the
legislation would sweep in a vast array of information products
and services. In addition, it will be important to evaluate the
overlap between the coverage of H.R. 2652 and that of copyright.
The effect of the proposed legislation, could be to prevent
certain sectors from pursuing legitimate functions permitted
today. Since H.R. 2652 is designed to "protect" investment rather
than creativity, the long and important tradition in the United
States of protecting expression not facts will be undermined.
This tradition is based on an appreciation that such a policy
stimulates innovations in the public and private sectors,
supports the educational process, and "promotes the progress of
Science and the useful arts." Finally, provisions in the bill
would provide protection to both current and retroactive
information thus permitting, in effect, perpetual protection.
* The exceptions and exclusions included in the legislation are
narrow and require additional definition to be meaningful.
* Unlike the Copyright Act, which includes numerous exemptions
and limitations in support of education and libraries, there are
no comparable exemptions in H.R. 2652. For example, given the
extremely broad definition of information included in H.R. 2652,
much of what libraries and educational institutions are able to
accomplish due to the exemptions and limitations in the Copyright
Act could be undermined. Would it be possible to fashion
meaningful provisions for the not-for- profit, education, and
research communities?
* The provision relating to government information requires
modification to ensure a continued, robust public domain and to
ensure that governmental works are not copyrighted.
* Section 1203 of the bill requires additional amplification.
One reading of this legislation is that it would permit private
parties to compile collections of non-copyrightable government
information and assert protection over them. When coupled with
seemingly perpetual protection, the proposal could significantly
reduce the amounts and types of information in the public domain.
* In 1996, legislation was introduced in Congress that focused on
the "sui generis protection of databases." H.R. 2652 addresses
issues related to "collections of information, not only
"databases. The international community chose not to consider a
draft treaty that would provide additional protections to
databases.
For more information, see ARL's key library concerns with H.R.
2652 at http://www.arl.org/info/frn/copy/hr2652sum.html.
_________________________________________________________________
OPPOSE H.R. 2281, "WIPO COPYRIGHT TREATIES IMPLEMENTATION ACT";
SUPPORT H.R. 3048, "DIGITAL ERA COPYRIGHT ENHANCEMENT ACT"
BACKGROUND: ALAWON readers will recall substantial activity in
Washington (and last winter in Geneva, Switzerland) directed
toward updating the nation's copyright laws for the digital age.
The House Courts and Intellectual Property Subcommittee held its
only hearings on the Clinton Administration's narrow and
seriously flawed proposals (H.R. 2281) to implement the Geneva
treaties last September. In contrast to H.R. 3048, H.R. 2281
does not contain any of the positive "key elements" listed below.
With the introduction of H.R. 3048, Reps. Rick Boucher's (D-VA)
and Tom Campbell's (R-CA) "Digital Era Copyright Enhancement Act"
in mid-November of 1997, however, librarians, educators,
researchers and many significant industries in the private sector
now have the opportunity not only to oppose a harmful bill and
endorse truly excellent legislation.
The introduction of H.R. 3048 constitutes tremendous legislative
progress toward ALA's goal of preserving the current balance in
copyright law between protecting information and affording access
to it. Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC), Chairman of the House Courts
and Intellectual Property Subcommittee, however, plans no
hearings on this potentially landmark, bipartisan legislation.
Rather, he has scheduled a vote on WIPO implementing legislation
now being drafted by Subcommittee staff for late February.
Constituent contacts to Mr. Coble and his fellow Subcommittee
members are now urgently needed to defer Subcommittee action
until a true consensus among all stakeholders on how best to
update the Copyright Act for the digital age can be reached.
_________________________________________________________________
KEY ELEMENTS OF THE "DIGITAL ERA COPYRIGHT ENHANCEMENT ACT"
(H.R. 3048)
* FAIR USE DOCTRINE -- relied on by students, teachers,
journalists and others for reasonable access to information
for non-commercial purposes without the owner's advance
permission -- applies in the digital environment;
* PRESERVATION -- libraries and archives may use the latest
technology to preserve and store endangered materials;
* FIRST SALE -- will continue to permit the owner of a copy
of copyrighted information in electronic form to freely
loan, sell or give it away, thus enabling libraries to loan
such material tomorrow as they do printed material today.
* DISTANCE LEARNING -- educators engaged in distance
learning may use computer networks to remotely distribute an
appropriate variety of materials directly related to a
defined curriculum to students enrolled in their classes;
* TEMPORARY COPYING -- electronic copies of material
incidentally or temporarily made in the process of using a
computer network may not serve as the sole basis for
copyright infringement liability; and
* ENHANCED CIVIL PENALTIES -- individuals who deliberately
use a computer network to violate copyright laws should be
subject to substantial civil (but not criminal) liability.
_________________________________________________________________
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