[PEN-L:1677] ACM Letter on Copyright (fwd)

[D Shniad <shniad@xxxxxx>]

Forwarded message:
Date: Sat, 2 Dec 1995 12:36:21 -0800 (PST)
From: Phil Agre <pagre@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: rre@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: ACM Letter on Copyright
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[I have enclosed a letter that the ACM has sent to relevant members of
Congress concerning problems with proposed legislation on intellectual
property issues, preceded by ACM's press release on the letter.]

Date: Fri, 01 Dec 1995 14:09:36 -0500
From: Marc Rotenberg <rotenberg@xxxxxxxx>
Subject: ACM Letter on Copyright

[...]

-----------------------------------------------



PRESS RELEASE

December 1, 1995

US Public Policy Office of the Association for Computing (ACM)

Contact: Barbara Simons at (408) 463-5661
USACM web page http://www.acm.org/usacm/


ACM CALLS FOR REVIEW OF COPYRIGHT LEGISLATION

RECOMMENDS MODEL POLICY FOR CONSIDERATION


WASHINGTON, DC -- The Association for Computing (ACM), an
international membership organization of information and
computer professionals, today expressed concern about a
proposal to extend copyright restrictions to the Internet.
In a letter to the Senate and House Judiciary Committees,
the ACM  urged Congressional leaders to pursue further public
debate before adopting legislation that "fails to recognize
legitimate needs and interests of academic, professional,
scientific, and ordinary users of telecommunications technology."

	The letter is a response to  S. 1284 and H.R. 2441, the
Information Infrastructure Copyright Act of 1995.  The Act is
based on a White Paper prepared by a government working group
on intellectual property rights chaired by Assistant Secretary
of Commerce and Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks Bruce A.
Lehman.  This White Paper recommends that Congress restructure
the current copyright law.

	The ACM letter warns that certain provisions in the bill "would
impede legitimate needs of the scientific and academic communities
to disseminate and study information in a free and speedy fashion."
ACM cautions that as written, the bill "expands the legal
interpretation of 'copyright infringement,' by making it unlawful to
browse through digital libraries found on-line, whether those
libraries are located on the Internet or elsewhere."

	The  ACM warns that the inclusion of the word "transmission" in
a particular section of the bill "may be interpreted by the courts
to cover a transmission to a video screen for period of time long
enough for such material to be read."  The letter concludes that
as written, the Information Infrastructure Copyright Act may
criminalize browsing, a widespread activity on the Internet today.

	ACM submitted a model copyright policy, developed specifically for
the dissemination of electronic information.  The ACM policy encourages
browsing while deterring copying for profit or commercial advantage.

	Stu Zweben, President of ACM stated that the "ACM has developed an
effective policy to deal with copyright in the electronic age.  This
policy reflects the technical expertise, publishing expertise, and
the basic interests of the scientific and educational communities that
ACM serves.  Policy makers should be cognizant of our work, and account
for these interests before enacting legislation on this issue."

	Zweben said, "It is important that ACM exercise its leadership in
information technology by speaking out on this issue."

	Barbara Simons, Chair of the U.S. Public Policy Committee of ACM
said, "Our nation is facing the question of how to integrate the
new electronic technology into our society and our legal system.
Protection of intellectual property is clearly of great importance.
However, we need to exercise caution when considering new laws and
restrictions. ACM looks forward to working with Congress to explore
appropriate technical and legislative methods for protecting
intellectual property."

	The ACM is an educational and scientific organization otherwise known
as the Association for Computing.  The membership of the ACM includes
more than 85,000 information and computing professionals worldwide,
including almost 70,000 persons who reside in the United States.

	A copy of the ACM Letter on the Information Infrastructure Copyright
Act may be found at http://www.acm.org/usacm/copyright_letter.txt. For
further information about the ACM public policy activities, contact the
USACM at 666 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, Suite 301, Washington, DC 20003,
telephone (202) 298-0842 or contact Barbara Simons at (408) 463-5661.
The full text of the Lehman White Paper, the Information Infrastructure
Copyright Act, and other material concerning intellectual property
including the ACM Model Policy is available at the USACM web page
(http://www.acm.org/usacm/).






[Here is the letter itself]

Mr. Chairman:

     By way of introduction, we are writing to you on behalf of the ACM,
an educational and scientific organization otherwise known as the
the Association for Computing.  The membership of the ACM includes
more than 85,000 information and computing professionals worldwide,
including almost 70,000 persons who reside in the United States.  As an
organization, we are very pleased with your demonstrated interest in
promoting the benefits of information technology.  We are, however,
concerned with a bill which is pending before your committee: the
"Information Infrastructure Copyright Act," S. 1284.

     From our perspective the current language of this bill fails to
recognize legitimate needs and interests of academic, professional,
scientific, and ordinary users of telecommunications technology.
Copyright laws that make the most sense for some forms of publication,
such as commercial music, may make poor sense for scientific and
scholarly works.  Commercial entertainment firms have a legitimate interest
in maximizing their profits.  Other kinds of publishing and distribution
organizations in the scientific and scholarly worlds balance cost
recovery/profit with maximizing the review and distribution of
materials to the academic and research community.  The ACM has developed
a sound policy that seems promising for its members; other scholarly
publishers and libraries are developing alternative policies.
Virtually all of these models differ from some key restrictions of S. 1284
that are certain to inhibit scientific and scholarly communication.

     As a specific example of the problem, we note that the bill
proposes to add the phrase "transmission" in the definitions of
two words, "distribution" and "publication," now used in the
copyright law to delineate rights in written works.
Further, the definition of the word "transmission" itself would
include distribution by any means whereby a copy is fixed long enough
to be perceived.  Such a definition, without further clarification,
may be interpreted by the courts to cover a transmission to a video
screen for period of time long enough for such material to be read.
Thus, the bill would broadly expand the legal interpretation of
"copyright infringement," by making it unlawful to browse through
digital libraries found on-line, whether those libraries are located
on the Internet or elsewhere.  Implementation of such a definition would
impede legitimate needs of scientific and academic communities to
disseminate and study information in a free and speedy fashion.
These interests were inadequately addressed in the Administration's
recently completed "White Paper."

     As an integral part of its activities, the ACM is a publisher of
numerous journals, some of which are now being moved on-line.  For this
reason, it has given abundant consideration to the proper application
of the copyright principle in the on-line environment.  As part of its
newly enacted Copyright Policy, the ACM has chosen to adopt a working
definition that recognizes how the technology of browsers works: the
browser brings a portion of the copyrighted work to the local computer
where it is being viewed.  We have structured our copyright policy,
applied to our works, to allow and encourage browsing.  We need to permit
individuals to browse and search through digital libraries for the purpose
of professional research, as well as educational use.  Illustrative
of this definition is the copyright notice which will accompany
all digitally published material maintained by the ACM:

     Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of
    this work for personal or classroom use is granted with or without
    fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or
    commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and full
    citation on the first page . . . .  To copy otherwise, to republish, to
    post on services, or to redistribute to lists, requires specific
    permission and/or a fee.

It is this type of freedom of access over digital networks which is
indispensable to maintain motivated and effective academic and
research communities.

     Action is certainly needed in the digital copyright area.  However, a
rush to legislate without an adequate consensus on the balance among
different interests made poses a danger to all of society.

     We urge you, now, to take steps to study S. 1284 in the larger context
of all the goals which information technology must serve.  A careful and
methodical study of these issues, complete with suitable hearings where all
interests of society can be heard, is the appropriate manner in which to
proceed.  A mistake today may well hobble scientific and economic advances
in our country for decades to come.  In an effort to assist your
committee during these hearings, the ACM would be pleased to provide
the names of distinguished individuals who are knowledgeable about the
technical aspects of electronic publishing and who would be prepared
to offer expert testimony at such hearings.

Sincerely,

Stu Zweben, President, ACM
Barbara Simons, Chair, U.S. Public Policy Committee of ACM