Study Group Formed to Bring Section 108 into Digital Age
The Library of Congress has assembled 19 copyright experts to recommend possible updates to Section 108 of the U.S. Copyright Act. The Section 108 Study Group’s mission is to assess whether the 1976 law’s limitations on the use, distribution and preservation of copyrighted content in libraries and archives should be rewritten to accommodate today’s digital technologies.
“We are extremely hopeful that we can reach some consensus and, if not, come close so that we can try to modernize section 108 to match what libraries are doing in the digital age and, at the same time, respect the rights of rightsholders,” said Lolly Gasaway, director of the law library and professor of law at the University of North Carolina, and also co-chair of the study group.
Section 108 contains a lengthy set of narrow circumstances in which libraries and archives may reproduce, distribute and otherwise use copyrighted content without the express authorization of the rightsholder. Among the circumstances addressed by Section 108 are: copying by and for library patrons, interlibrary loans, and the preservation of older or damaged material. Gasaway reported some of the more controversial topics the group plans to take up include digital preservation and the use of copyrighted content in electronic reserves.
The Section 108 Study Group is chaired by Gasaway and Richard Rudick, former senior vice president and general counsel of John Wiley and Sons and current member of Copyright Clearance Center’s Board of Directors.
The group is expected to deliver their recommendations to the Library of Congress by mid-2006. Click here for more information.
