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ACRL Legislative Update
Volume 5, Number 2
February 3, 2006
PATRIOT Act Extended Yet Again
Current Status: Wednesday, February 1, 2006, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to extend the USA Patriot Act in its current form until March 10. The Senate voted to approve the same extension Thursday night. The new reauthorization deadline will be Friday, March 10. According to an Associated Press story, Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) has been negotiating with the White House for changes he believes are needed. Meanwhile, Bush administration supporters have a new TV ad that was shown during the Fox program, 24, which paints the senators working for civil liberties protections as weakening the PATRIOT Act. Watch the 32-second ad.
Action Needed: The next few weeks are critical, so we urge you to continue calling and writing your congressional representatives, joining others for in-district meetings with legislators. Members of Congress will be in their districts for the President’s Day recess, and you can set up meetings with them in their home offices by calling their district scheduler. We urge you to continue educating and reaching out to people in your communities. Find contact numbers and suggested talking points on ALA's legislative action center.
Public Roundtables on Copyright Exceptions
Background: The Library of Congress convened the Section 108 Study Group in early 2005 to examine Section 108 of the U.S. Copyright Act. Members of the Study Group from the library community are Lolly Gasaway, Jim Neal, Miriam Nisbet and Bob Oakley. The group will prepare findings and make recommendations to the Librarian of Congress by mid-2006 for possible alterations to the law that reflect current technologies. Section 108 is a critical provision of the law as it concerns reproduction of copyrighted works by libraries and archives, including for preservation and inter-library loan.
Issue for Academic Libraries: There is growing concern that provisions of the Copyright Act may need revision to address issues arising from use of copyrighted works by libraries and archives in a digital environment. Digital technologies are radically transforming how copyrighted works are created and disseminated and also how libraries and archives preserve and make those works available.
Current Status: The Study Group is reaching out to the library, archives, rights-holder, and creative communities for input on recommendations for revising the current library and archives exceptions. As part of that process, the Study Group will host two days of roundtables in March 2006 for interested parties to offer suggestions and comments on how best to revise these exceptions for the digital era.
Action Needed: Participate in the roundtables: March 8 in Los Angeles – University of California-Los Angeles School of Law and March 16 in Washington, D.C. Read more on the topics to be discussed. Information on how to participate will be published in the Federal Register in February 2006 and made available on the Section 108 Study Group website.
Read more information or contact Miriam Nisbet, ALA Legislative Counsel, 800-941-8478, mnisbet@alawash.org.
Sunshine Week 2006: Are We Safer in the Dark?
This “National Dialogue on Open Government and Secrecy” is brought to you in part by ALA. A panel of experts from around the country will kick off a lively discussion about open government and secrecy -- the problems we are facing with it, how it impacts communities, and what the public can do about it. Locally sponsored programs in communities around the country will discuss issues of access in their communities and how to keep all levels of government open. Find a local sponsor in your area or register to become a sponsor by March 6.
ACRL Legislative Update is an e-mail notification service that provides current news on public policy topics relevant to academic libraries and librarians, including information from the ALA Washington Office and a variety of library and higher education publications. This digital update is regularly issued as part of our ongoing efforts to make it easier for you to connect with ACRL’s advocacy efforts. Feel free to forward this message to appropriate electronic lists.
We want the Legislative Update to be helpful to you. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, please contact ACRL Scholarly Communications-Government Relations Specialist Kara Malenfant at kmalenfant@ala.org.
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