ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL N e w s ■ F e b r u a r y 1999 / 109 W a s h i n g t o n H o t l i n e Lynn E. B radley T h e 106th C o n g re ss h a s officially c o n v e n e d , al­ th o u g h it is c le a r to e v e ry o n e th a t th e S e n a te is a b s o r b e d in th e im p e a c h m e n t p ro c e e d in g s . At th is w ritin g , th e r e a r e f e w sp e c ific s a b o u t th e lo n g -term a g e n d a s a n d re la te d sc h e d u le s fo r this s e s s io n n o r a r e all s u b c o m m itte e a s s ig n m e n ts fin a l in th o s e c o m m itte e s d e a li n g w ith lib ra ry r e l a te d is s u e s . H o w e v e r, w e k n o w th a t in te l­ le c tu a l p r o p e r ty w ill c o n ti n u e t o b e o n e o f th e m o s t im p o rta n t lib ra ry -re la te d is su e s t o b e a d ­ d r e s s e d b y th e n e w C o n g re ss. O n g o in g activi­ tie s r e l a te d to in te lle c tu a l p r o p e r ty a n d c o p y ­ r i g h t c o n t i n u e t o m o v e f o r w a r d a s a n o u tg r o w t h o f v a r io u s a c tio n s fr o m th e 105th C ongress. U .S . C o p y r i g h t O f f i c e c o n d u c t i n g h e a r i n g s o n d i s t a n c e e d u c a t i o n T o c o m p ly w ith a s tu d y r e q u i r e d b y t h e r e ­ c e n tly e n a c t e d D ig ita l M ille n n iu m C o p y rig h t A ct (PL 105-304), th e C opy rig h t O ffice h a s b e e n s e e k i n g th e v ie w s o f p a r tie s in t e r e s t e d in d is ­ ta n c e e d u c a t io n , in c lu d in g r e p r e s e n ta t iv e s o f c o p y rig h t o w n e rs , n o n p r o f it e d u c a tio n a l in sti­ tu tio n s , a n d n o n p r o f it lib ra rie s a n d a rc h iv e s. A t t h e s t u d y ’s c o n c lu s io n in la te A p ril 1999, th e C o p y rig h t O ffic e w ill s u b m it r e c o m m e n ­ d a tio n s to C ongress, p o ss ib ly in c lu d in g th e first m ajor c h a n g e s to th e dista n c e e d u c a tio n se c tio n o f t h e C o p y rig h t A ct s in c e 1976. ALA, ACRL, a n d o t h e r l i b r a r y g r o u p s w o r k e d o n jo in t te s tim o n y fo r t h e W a s h in g ­ to n , D .C ., h e a r in g s o n J a n u a r y 26 a n d 27. At th is w ritin g , o t h e r ACRL a n d ALA r e p r e s e n ­ ta tiv e s h a v e r e q u e s te d th e o p p o r t u n it y to p a r ­ tic ip a te in th e C h ic a g o h e a rin g o n F e b ru a ry 12. A n o th e r fie ld h e a r i n g is s c h e d u l e d fo r UCLA o n F e b ru a ry 10. A t th is w ritin g , th e ALA W a sh ­ in g to n O ffice h a d a lre a d y re c e iv e d n e a rly th re e d o z e n c o p ie s o f filings fro m univ ersities n a tio n ­ w id e . W ritte n c o m m e n ts w e r e to h a v e b e e n re c e i v e d a t th e C o p y rig h t O ffic e b y F e b ru a r y 5. W a tc h fo r fu tu re r e p o r ts a b o u t th e s e p r o ­ ceedings. L y n n e E. B r a d le y is d e p u t y e x e c u t iv e d ir e c t o r o f A LA 's W a s h in g to n O ffic e ; e -m a il: leb@ a la w ash .org C O N F U f i n a l r e p o r t a v a i l a b l e T h e c o m p l e t e a d m in is tr a tiv e h is to r y o f C o n ­ f e r e n c e o n F a ir U s e (C O N F U ) a n d a s u m ­ m a r y o f t h e t o p i c s d i s c u s s e d is a v a i l a b l e o n l i n e a n d in p r i n t f o r m a t a s t h e “F in a l R e ­ p o r t t o t h e C o m m i s s i o n e r o n t h e C o n c l u ­ s i o n o f .C o n f e r e n c e o n F a ir U s e .” P r e p a r e d b y s t a f f t o U S P T O C o m m i s s i o n e r B r u c e A. L e h m a n , t h e r e p o r t c h r o n i c l e s t h e C O N F U p ro c e s s . S in g le c o p i e s o f t h e r e p o r t , a s w e ll a s th e p re v io u s ly p u b l i s h e d in te rim r e p o r t (D e c e m ­ b e r 1 9 9 6 ), a n d t h e “R e p o r t o n t h e C o n c l u ­ s i o n o f t h e F irst P h a s e o f C o n f e r e n c e o n F a ir U s e ” ( S e p t e m b e r 1997) m a y b e o b ta i n e d fre e o f c h a r g e b y s e n d i n g o r f a x i n g a w r i t t e n r e ­ q u e s t to : C O N F U R e p o r t , c / o R i c h a r d M a u ls b y , D ir e c t o r , O f f ic e o f P u b li c A ffa irs, U .S. P a t e n t a n d T r a d e m a r k O ffic e , W a s h ­ in g to n , D .C. 20231. Fax: (7 0 3 ) 308-5258. T h e r e p o r t s a r e a l s o a v a i l a b l e o n l i n e a t h t t p : / / w w w . u s p t o . g o v / w e b / o f f i c e s / d c o m / o l i a / c o n f u / . C O N F U w a s i n i t i a t e d in t h e fa ll o f 1 994 u n d e r t h e a u s p i c e s o f t h e U .S. P a t e n t a n d T r a d e m a r k O ffic e (U S P T O ). Its p u r p o s e w a s t o f a c i li ta t e in f o r m a l d i s c u s s i o n s r e g a r d i n g t h e p a r a m e t e r s o f fa ir u s e in t h e e d u c a t io n a l a n d li b r a r y e n v i r o n m e n t s a m o n g c o p y r i g h t p r o p r i e t o r s a n d m e m b e r s o f th e in f o rm a tio n u s e r c o m m u n it y . O v e r t h e la st f o u r y e a rs , re p r e s e n ta tiv e s o f m o r e th a n f o u r d o z e n o rg a n iz a tio n s n a r r o w e d n e a r l y tw o d o z e n p o s s ib le g u id e l i n e to p i c s d o w n to th re e : d ig ita l im a g e s, d is ta n c e le a r n ­ in g , a n d e d u c a t io n a l m u ltim e d ia m a te ria ls . W h ile C O N F U w a s u ltim a te ly j u d g e d t o b e a u s e f u l c o m m u n ic a t io n v e h ic le , n o n e o f th e drafts c irc u la te d re c e iv e d sufficiently w id e s u p ­ p o r t in b o t h t h e p u b li c a n d p r i v a te s e c t o r s to ju stify th e ir s u b m is s io n t o C o n g re s s fo r in c lu ­ s i o n in a p p r o p r ia t e le g is la tiv e h is to ry . F o r m o r e o n th e p o s itio n t a k e n o n th e p r o ­ p o s e d C O N F U g u id e l in e s b y ALA in c o n c e r t w ith m o r e th a n a d o z e n o t h e r n a tio n a l lib ra ry a n d e d u c a t io n a l o rg a n i z a ti o n s , s e e t h e M ay 1 9 9 7 C O N F U J o i n t S t a t e m e n t a t h t t p : / / w w w .a l a .o r g / w a s h o f f / c o n f u .h t m l . ■ http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/dcom/olia/ http://www.ala.org/washoff/confu.html mailto:leb@alawash.org