Witnesses representing society publishers, libraries, and commercial database producers gave their opinions on database protection at the second ASIS Intellectual Property Hearing held at the ASIS Annual Meeting 1998 in Pittsburgh. Michael Spinella of Science indicated that publishers and librarians have substantial common ground in the basic tenets of copyright and fair use. He called for a balance between legitimate use and legitimate rights. AAAS licenses distinguish between the fair use rights of paying customers and those of non-paying customers, with broader rights such as occasional dissemination of digital copies limited to paying customers. Gloriana St. Clair, representing the library community, called for a hierarchy of protections. Ms. St. Clair distinguishes between scholarly publishing and commercial publishing, with the latter having a greater need for protection. According to Chris Myer, legal advisor to the Coalition against Database Piracy, the legislation to be presented in the 106th Congress will have improved, more specific language. All witnesses would prefer to rely on copyright rather than incur the costs of negotiating and administering contracts and licenses. However, they acknowledged that licensing and even shrink-wrapped databases and directories may be here to stay.

The witnesses were questioned by Dick Kaser, NFAIS; Debora Shaw, Indiana University; and Bonnie Carroll, Information International Associates. The session was moderated by Marge Hlava, Access Innovations, Inc. This hearing was the second conducted to gather viewpoints on database protection among the ASIS membership. The viewpoints expressed in the hearings will be formulated into a white paper on the subject.

-Gail Hodge
Program Committee ASIS/DVC