Washington Hotline


C&RL News May 2016 258

Emily Sheketoff is executive director of the ALA 
Washington Office, email: esheketoff@alawash.org

W a s h i n g t o n  H o t l i n eEmily Sheketoff

National Policy Convening 
On April 12–13, 2016, the ALA Washington 
Office held its first National Policy Convening 
to explore national policy opportunities for 
libraries to pursue focusing on priorities for 
the next administration. “Youth Engagement 
with Technology” explored ways that libraries 
can help advance the abilities of our nation’s 
young people to explore, design, and create 
with technologies central to the success of the 
digital economy and society.

“Advancing Economic Opportunities in 
Communities” considered ways that libraries 
can continue to support workforce develop-
ment and address problems associated with 
the economic divide. Speakers included 
experts from across the educational, com-
mercial, and governmental policy spectrums 
including U.S. Small Business Administration, 
National League of Cities, the Aspen Institute, 
and the Consumer Technology Association.

A third panel, “Future Directions for the 
Library of Congress” considered priorities for 
the library given the retirement of James Bil-
lington, the Librarian of Congress since the 
Reagan years, and the recent nomination of 
Carla Hayden as his successor. 

Speakers included Robert Darnton, Carl 
H. Pforzheimer university professor and uni-
versity librarian, emeritus, Harvard University; 
Katie Oyama, senior policy counsel, Google, 
Inc.; and Sascha Meinrath, Palmer chair in 
Telecommunications, The Pennsylvania State 
University. 

Conversation focused on the direction 
of the U.S. Copyright Office and a renewed 
consideration of the proper balance between 
the information rights of the public and the 
interests of rights holders. The panel dis-
cussed the need for a robust and complete 
database of copyright registrations to enable 
effective licensing transactions and increase 

competitiveness, a plan for deposit of digital 
works, and leadership in the open access 
movement including support of the Fair Ac-
cess to Science and Technology Research Act.

  
U.S. Copyright Office Notice of 
Inquiries
The Library Copyright Alliance (LCA) con-
tributed comments to two Digital Millennium 
Copyright Act (DMCA) increasingly problem-
atic provisions. The anticircumvention provi-
sion of the DMCA requires that the Copyright 
Office oversee a triennial review to identify 
when digital rights management technolo-
gies can be hacked to make lawful uses of 
digital works. The review is a complex, time 
-consuming determination, requiring legal 
analysis and increasingly more expertise on 
technological tools and software.  

During the last review in 2015, the Internet 
of Things became enmeshed in the rule-
making, since many tangible products now 
operate via software protected by copyright. 
Farmers could no longer repair their own 
tractors because to do so would involve cir-
cumventing software. Researchers studying 
car emission standards found themselves 
embroiled in copyright issues since digital 
technologies operate emission controls. LCA 
argued that hard fought exemptions should 
remain permanent rather than expire every 
three years, only to be requested again.

Public comments were also requested on 
the notice and takedown provision of Sec-
tion 512. Online service providers, including 
libraries and universities that offer Internet 
services, are protected from liability when 
third parties using network service allegedly 
infringe copyright. While LCA supports the 
provision, the organization argued that no-
tices filed be complete, accurate and under-
standable and that rights holders consider fair 
use before filing frivolous notices. Comments 
are available at the librarycopyrightalliance.
org website.