The 105th Congress, staffers, and various stakeholders spent hours crafting bills, holding hearings, and negotiating compromises related to information legislation. There were successes and failures, depending on the stakeholder group.

WIPO Copyright Treaty Passes Minus Controversial Database Protection

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act enacts legislation in compliance with the Copyright Treaties approved by the World Intellectual Property Organization in 1997. However, the Act leaves more questions than answers, requiring that the Register of Copyrights monitor and make recommendations regarding the impact on fair use, distance learning and electronic commerce.

The final wording did not include protection for collections that do not warrant protection under copyright. This puts the U.S. at odds with the European Union Directive that grants protection only for databases produced in countries with reciprocal legislation. Given its importance to database producers and directory publishers, database protection legislation is likely to return in the next session.

Copyright Term Extended

The Copyright Term Extension Act (S. 505) extends copyright protection by 20 years to "life +70 years" for individual authors and to 95 years from 75 years for corporate creators. It applies to future copyrights and works under copyright when the bill becomes effective. Libraries, archives and non-profit educational institutions can treat copyrighted items as public domain during the last 20 years of the term, with some restrictions if the work is being used commercially.

Extending copyright may have a major impact on digital library initiatives as developers try to construct digital collections of current interest but without costly administrative overhead. Even if the copyright holder or his estate can be located, there is little guidance as to the worth of materials in a digital environment.

Government Publications Reform Act Fails

Despite many late night sessions and lobbying by both proponents (librarians and some printers) and opponents (vendors and other printers), the Government Publications Reform Act (S. 2288), which passed the Senate in September, was never introduced in the House. The rewrite of Title 44, which legislates the printing and dissemination of government documents, eliminated the Joint Committee on Printing, reestablished the Government Printing Office as an independent entity, sought to strengthen the Federal Depository Library Program, and increased penalties for non-compliant agencies.

Proponents believe there are "fugitive documents" that are never submitted because printing bypasses GPO. Opponents believe the centralized purchasing of printing services and equipment will reduce their ability to compete and shrink the federal market for printing and duplicating equipment.

Discussions about rewriting Title 44 have been ongoing for more than 10 years. It is likely that similar legislation will be introduced in the 106th Congress.

-Gail Hodge
Program Committee, ASIS/DVC