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HELLO, ARLIS/NA Members --
THANKS to the timely actions of library supporters and groups such as the
Digital Future Coalition (DFC), of which ARLIS/NA is a member, the House
of Representatives' Telecommunications Subcommittee is reviewing H.R. 2281,
WIPO Copyright Treaties Implementation Act, with the benefit of considerable
input. An update from the DFC notes that "the DFC and friends have made a
positive impression and our issues are starting to hit home. Representatives
are paying attention to these issues because of the fine work that so many
of you have done in earnest. Keep up the good work! Keep up the pressure!
Every letter, every call, every fax, every e-mail counts."
ARLIS/NA has endorsed H.R.3048, Digital Era Copyright Enhancement Act,
(Boucher/Campbell Bill) and voiced its opposition to H.R.2281. Recent
letters were sent to members of the Commerce Committee, including Chairman
Tauzin, Telecommunications Subcommittee, and Chairman Bliley, Commerce
Committee, to express continued support for H.R.3048 and to urge the
rejection of H.R.2281
as presently written (See below).
Contacting the Telecommunications Subcommittee and the Commerce Committee
is especially critical this week, because H.R.2281 is scheduled to be
marked-up on June 17 and the Commerce Committee's jurisdiction over
H.R.2281 is scheduled to end on June 19,1998.
Please let your House representatives know how you stand on this critical
copyright legislation. For more information, you can start by consulting the
DFC Web site:
Digital Future Coalition (DFC) <http://www.ari.net/dfc/>
Side by side comparision of H.R.2281 and H.R.3048:
<http://www.ari.net/dfc/issues/wipo/head2hd/head2hd.html>
THANKS to all of you who are taking the time at this important moment to
voice your opinion and concern.
Katy Poole
Chair, Public Policy Committee
__________________________________________________
Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA)
4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 201
Raleigh, North Carolina 27607
919-787-5181; 800-89-ARLIS
FAX: 919-787-4916
June 9, 1998
Re: H.R. 2281, World Intellectual Property Organization Treaty
Implementation Act
The Honorable Billy Tauzin
United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Representative Tauzin,
The ARLIS/NA Public Policy Committee is writing on behalf of the Art
Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) to thank you for holding the
June 5 hearings on H.R. 2281 as indicative of your support of "balanced"
copyright law. At this critical time we would also strongly urge you to
support the related amendments to H.R. 2281 to be offered by Rep. Rick
Boucher (D-VA) later this month.
As a professional organization of architecture and art librarians, visual
resources professionals, artists, curators, educators, publishers and
others interested in visual arts information, ARLIS/NA is particularly
concerned that current copyright legislation acknowledge the need for
intellectual property law and policy to strike a balance between the rights
of copyright owners/holders and the preservation of fair use and access to
digital information.
ARLIS/NA wholeheartedly supports and has endorsed H.R. 3048, Digital Era
Copyright Enhancement Act, jointly introduced by Representative Rick
Boucher (D-VA) and Tom Campbell (R-CA). We believe that H.R. 3048 presents
the best approach to updating the Copyright Act to meet the challenges of
the digital environment. It includes provisions which safeguard policies
and practices vital for the continued use of the considerable wealth of art
library collections today and tomorrow. The Doctrine of "First Sale;" Fair
Use; library & archives exemptions for preservation reproduction; distance
learning and ephemeral copying are several policies and practices which are
essential to libraries and archives if we are to effectively serve our
patrons, scholars, researchers and students in the networked environment.
We strongly urge your support and promotion of H.R. 3048 and/or the
amendment of H.R. 2281 to include the adoption of these aforementioned
provisions from H.R. 3048.
In stark contrast to our endorsement of H.R. 3048, we are deeply alarmed
with the proposed legislation, H.R. 2281, World Intellectual Property
Organization Treaty Implementation Act, which we believe does not provide a
balance between copyright owners and users and we urge you to reject this
seriously flawed proposal. Prof. Robert Oakley, Library Director of the
Georgetown University Law Center, very succinctly stated the gist of our
concerns during the recent June 5 hearing before the House Commerce
Committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications:
"H.R. 2281, as drafted, would grant copyright owners a new and unrestricted
exclusive right to control access to information in digital works which
could negate one of the most basic principles that has made the U.S. so
clearly a leader in intellectual creativity, innovation, and commerce --
the ability to gain access to information in published or publicly
available works . . . . By access I mean the right to read and, even more
simply, the right to browse published works. Taken another step, it means
the right to use works in ways currently allowed by exemption and
limitations in copyright -- expressly crafted by Congress -- to permit
fair use, use for library preservation, and use in classroom teaching."
In closing, ARLIS/NA, along with many other members of the Digital Future
Coalition (DFC), supports and encourages support of H.R. 3048 and shares
many serious reservations and critical concerns about the current version
of H.R.2281. We are strongly opposed to the passage of H.R. 2281 in its
present form and urge your support in the development of legislation, such
as H.R. 3048, which will preserve the health and welfare of our educational
and cultural institutions -- libraries, archives and visual collections --
for the benefit of our patrons, now and in the future.
Respectfully yours,
Katherine Poole
Chair, ARLIS/NA Public Policy Committee
cc: Digital Future Coalition
Katherine Poole
Rotch Visual Collections, MIT
77 Massachusetts Ave., 7-304
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307
1-617-253-7098; FAX:1-617-253-9331
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