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AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF LAW LIBRARIES
WASHINGTON AFFAIRS REPRESENTATIVE
Robert L. Oakley
Dimr„r„fili,La»Lihrar\iP„^rsuT,ifLu» July 11, 1995
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The Honorable Carlos Moorhead
Chairman, Intellectual Property Subcommittee
House Judiciary Committee
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Chairman Moorhead:
As representatives of four of the nation's principal library associations, with collective membership of almost 80,000 individuals and hundreds of institutions, we are writing with regard to the "Copyright Term Extension Act of 1995" (H.R. 989). While our organizations have not expressly opposed this legislation, the measure raises several serious concerns for libraries, students and scholars across the country that neither have been aired nor made part of the Subcommittee's record.
Please consider this correspondence, therefore, as a request for our coalition to work closely with you and your staff to craft the House's final version of H.R. 989. Our goal is to see legislation that meets the needs of both the creative community and its heirs and the millions of researchers, students and others who use libraries every day.
If enacted as presently written, H.R. 989 would have two serious but unintended effects:
• Extension of the copyright term could handicap libraries' national preservation efforts, by denying ready access to a vast body of copyrighted works for two additional decades.
It has long been understood that the storage medium for works, such as paper and film, degenerate within the lifespan of current copyright protection. While the life expectancy of works in digital form is currently unknown, with changing technology, it would not be surprising to find these works disappearing in two decades or less.
One of the great public services American libraries perform is the preservation of creative works before they turn to dust. Congress has recognized this vital function and current copyright law provides some support for the preservation activities of libraries. See 17 U.S.C. Sections 107 and 108(c). However, the current law remains amijiguous at the periphery. While works in the public domain may be freely copied and therefore saved from deterioration, works under copyright protection are subject to
Edward Brnnell Williams LmUbrarv IIIGSlml.N.W Washinglmi. DC 20001 Voue (2021 66219160 Telefax: 1202)66219202 Inlernel oatle^^law geori^elown edu