[Libs-Or] November 2016 Tuesday Topic: Copyright Reform and Libraries

Tue Nov 15 17:27:11 PST 2016

*Welcome to Tuesday Topics, a monthly series organized by the Oregon
Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Committee
<http://www.olaweb.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=159>
and covering topics with intellectual freedom implications for libraries of
all types. This guest post is written by Arlene Weible, Federal Regional
Depository Coordinator, Oregon State Library.*

*Arlene has been a government information librarian for 24 years and has
served as Chair of ALA’s Government Documents Round Table and the
Government Publishing Office’s Depository Library Council. Questions can be
sent to her at **arlene.weible at state.or.us <arlene.weible at state.or.us>**.*

*We want your feedback!** After you've read this month's Tuesday Topic,
please take a minute to comment via a **very brief survey*
<https://docs.google.com/a/multco.us/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdvQ7Y0O70LV5LEf9oVMLRCIoCOV2rHDF1qLvI4cLX4V60SVg/viewform>
*.*

[image: Inline image 1]

*November 2016 Tuesday Topic: Copyright Reform and Libraries*

This past summer, library professional associations expressed concerns to
the U.S. Copyright Office about its proposal to reform the library
reproduction exemption of U.S. copyright law, known specifically as Section
108 <https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/108>. This section allows
libraries to reproduce and distribute one copy of a work under certain
circumstances, such as the copying of materials for interlibrary loan or
reproducing at-risk material for preservation purposes.

The Copyright Office explained the reform effort
<https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/06/07/2016-13426/section-108-draft-revision-of-the-library-and-archives-exceptions-in-us-copyright-law>
as necessary to update the law’s “obsolete” language to better reflect 21st
century publishing and reproduction practices. While there is a detailed
explanation of the library associations’ objections, it really boils down
to the old adage “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. The Library Copyright
Alliance
<http://www.librarycopyrightalliance.org/storage/documents/108noiposition2.pdf>
and the Society of American Archivists
<http://www2.archivists.org/saa-statement-on-draft-revision-of-section-108#.V7NzsaKrKao>
both released statements indicating that the current language adequately
protects library practices and attempts to update the law could do more
harm than good.

Another aspect of the objections to the reform is the process that was used
to solicit feedback. Typically, when federal agencies want public feedback,
they provide for a process of public comments. These comments are then
published, making it clear which groups are trying to influence the
agency’s decision-making. (See regulations.gov
<https://www.regulations.gov/> for many examples!) In this instance, the
Copyright Office asked for private meetings with groups to receive the
feedback. This lack of transparency makes it difficult to understand which
groups are providing comments and does not establish a written record,
which could lead to misinterpretation of what is discussed during meetings.
The Association of Research Libraries lays out the library community’s
concerns in this blog post <http://policynotes.arl.org/?p=1408>.

How is it that the Copyright Office can deviate from a public comment
process? As an office of the Library of Congress, it is not subject to the
same operating rules as federal executive agencies. Legislative agencies
tend to have more flexibility in the way they seek feedback from the
public. It will be interesting to see how Carla Hayden, the new Librarian
of Congress, will impact this process and how reform efforts may move
forward. She has already made leadership changes
<https://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2016/16-189.html> at the Copyright Office by
recently removing the head of the office, Maria Pallante. Pallante had been
criticized
<https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20161024/14573835875/shake-up-copyright-office-possible-preview-to-fight-over-copyright-reform.shtml>
for favoring the entertainment industry and advocating to move the
Copyright Office out of the Library.

What does this mean for the reform of Section 108? While it seems likely
that the Copyright Office will move forward with Copyright Act reform
recommendations to the House Judiciary Committee, the leadership changes at
the Office and political climate in Congress makes it difficult to predict
how much interest or momentum there will be for the Section 108 changes. My
best advice, stay tuned! Follow the news feed
<http://arllca.nonprofitsoapbox.com/news-from-lca?format=feed&type=rss> at
the Library Copyright Alliance web site or ALA’s District Dispatch
<http://www.districtdispatch.org/category/copyright/> for the latest
updates.

And, if you want to take a deeper dive into the issues, I’d suggest the
following for further reading.

   - Copyright Office Intent On Changing The Part Of Copyright That
   Protects Libraries & Archives, Even Though No One Wants It Changed
   <https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20160729/23591535111/copyright-office-intent-changing-part-copyright-that-protects-libraries-archivists-even-though-no-one-wants-it-changed.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+techdirt%2Ffeed+%28Techdirt%29>,
   August 1, 2016. TechDirt Blog.
   - The Section 108 Study Group Report
   <http://www.section108.gov/docs/Sec108StudyGroupReport.pdf>. March 2008.
   [This report was commissioned by the Copyright Office to explore reform
   ideas.]
   - Does the Copyright Office Belong in a Library?
   <http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2015/07/opinion/peer-to-peer-review/does-the-copyright-office-belong-in-a-library-peer-to-peer-review/#_>
   Library Journal, July 2, 2015.
   - Captured: Systemic Bias at the U.S. Copyright Office
   <https://www.publicknowledge.org/assets/uploads/blog/Final_Captured_Systemic_Bias_at_the_US_Copyright_Office.pdf>.
   Public Knowledge, September 8, 2016.
   - Libraries as Creatures of Copyright: Why Librarians Care about
   Intellectual Property Law and Policy
   <http://www.ala.org/advocacy/copyright/copyrightarticle/librariescreatures>,
   ALA web site.
   - *Complete Copyright for K–12 Librarians and Educators* by Carrie
   Russell, ALA Editions, 2012. [Available to borrow from State Library
   <http://osl-lis.blogspot.com/2012/09/complete-copyright-for-k-12-librarians.html>
   or purchase from ALA <http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=3104>.]

Arlene Weible, MLS

Electronic Services Consultant

Oregon Federal Regional Depository Coordinator

Library Support and Development Services

Oregon State Library

250 Winter St NE

Salem OR, 97301

503-378-5020

arlene.weible at state.or.us

http://oregon.gov/osl/ld/
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/libs-or/attachments/20161115/34c30166/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image.png
Type: image/png
Size: 34385 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/libs-or/attachments/20161115/34c30166/attachment.png>