Library Groups Band Together to Support Copyright Legislation
Staff -- Library Journal, 1/11/1998
Four major library organizations have joined forces to support copyright bills in the Senate and House, LJ learned Friday at the American Library Association's (ALA) Midwinter meeting. ALA, the American Association of Law Libraries, the Association of Research Libraries, and the Special Libraries Association have announced their ardent support for John Ashcroft's (R-MO) Digital Copyright Clarification and Technology Act in the Senate, and the Digital Era Copyright Enhancement Act introduced by both Rich Boucher (D-VA) and Tom Campbell (R-CA) in the House. The two bills give the library community the best chance of "maintaining balance as we update the Copyright Act for the digital environment," said ALA Legislative Counsel Adam Eisgrau. The bills directly counter legislation proposed by the Clinton Administration based on the two international copyright treaties adopted by the World Intellectual Property Organization last year. Eisgrau termed the Clinton bills "fundamentally incompatible with the balance between protecting information and the access currently afforded to it."
