april08c.indd


Andy Bridges W a s h i n g t o n  H o t l i n e  

International Copyright Advocate 
makes statement to WIPO in Geneva 
In early March, International Copyright Ad­
vocate Lori Driscoll and Copyright Specialist 
Carrie Russell, from ALA’s Office for Informa­
tion Technology Policy (OITP), were in Ge­
neva, Switzerland, for a meeting of the World 
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). 
On behalf of the Library Copyright Alliance, 
they made the following statement to the 
WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and 
Related Rights: 

“Mr. Chairman, the Library Copyright Al­
liance appreciates the opportunity to speak 
before this forum about an issue that is so 
central to libraries and the public. We are a co­
alition of the five major U.S. library associations 
offering this statement regarding copyright 
exceptions and limitations. When examin­
ing minimum limits, we encourage Member 
States to involve the international community 
of libraries when establishing norms that do 
not limit the rights of the public to use infor­
mation for the advancement of learning and 
knowledge creation. 

The effectiveness of the U.S. copyright 
system is rooted in the effective balance be­
tween the rights of users’ to access information 
and the interests of rights holders. Limitations 
and exceptions to copyright are the legal 
mechanisms necessary to achieve this balance. 
The U.S. Copyright Office has advanced the 
importance of limitations and exceptions by 
conducting a two year study on Section 108 of 
the U.S. copyright law to update reproduction, 
preservation, and replacement exceptions for 
libraries and their users that better refl ect the 
realities of the digital environment. In addition, 
the U.S. Copyright Office has proposed legisla­
tion that would enable the public (including 
libraries, educational institutions, individuals 
and commercial interests) to use ‘orphan 
works,’ those protected works whose rights 
holders cannot be found or identifi ed after 

Andy Bridges is communications director at ALA’s 
Washington Offi  ce, e-mail: abridges@alawash.org 

a reasonable search for them has been con­
ducted. When or if rights holders later present 
themselves, the remedies for the use of their 
works would be limited. A Congressional sub­
committee is holding a hearing on this issue 
this Thursday. These actions demonstrate the 
United States’ continued commitment to the 
development of exceptions that facilitate the 
public’s right to use information to advance 
knowledge and learning. 

The United States saw the need for a broad 
exemption—fair use—that recognizes that the 
formats and delivery mechanisms of knowl­
edge will change over time and that copyright 
exceptions should be viewed in light of their 
situational use. For example, the publishing 
industry regularly asserts fair use when incor­
porating content from earlier works. Likewise, 
a computer scientist relies on fair use when 
reverse engineering a computer security threat. 
Fair use advances free speech and the right 
to free inquiry for citizens, students, scholars, 
and creators alike. We urge nation members 
to consider the importance of a broader, situ­
ation­based exemption, like fair use, which 
ultimately benefits both rights holders and 
users of information. 

As a reminder, libraries do not come to 
these forums to represent only themselves but 
also to represent the interests of the public they 
serve. Nonetheless, U.S. libraries’ commitment 
to creators will never be compromised. As a 
primary purchaser of information products and 
services, libraries demonstrate through their 
purchasing power the importance of and need 
for creators to receive compensation for their 
work. These economic incentives, however, 
are meaningless if the public interest is not 
guaranteed. We respectfully submit that copy­
right law requires that economic rights have 
limits—not to the detriment of the content in­
dustry, but to ensure the purpose of copyright 
law to advance creativity and knowledge in 
the interests of all. 

Thank you once again for this opportunity 
to share our views and expertise on this criti­
cal issue.” 

230C&RL News April 2008

mailto:abridges@alawash.org