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Information Infrastructure Copyright Act
``` [This is a letter to Congress on copyright issues from the US Public Policy Committee of the Association for Computing (USACM). I've deleted the header but the signatories' names for ACM can be found at the bottom. I have also taken the liberty of reformatting the text to 74 columns.]
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February 15, 1996
Honorable Carlos J. Moorehead Chairman, Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property House Judiciary Committee US House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515-0527
Dear Chairman Moorehead:
Thank you for the invitation to provide a statement for the record regarding the "Information Infrastructure Copyright Act," H.R. 2441. 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. As an organization, we are very pleased with your interest in promoting the benefits of information technology. We welcome this opportunity to provide for you and the Members of the Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property our perspective on the issue of copyright protection for electronic information.
From our perspective the current language of this bill fails to recognize the legitimate needs and interests of academic, professional, scientific, and ordinary users of telecommunications technology, and innovators who will create new kinds of intellectual property. Under the present Copyright Act, there is no liability for merely viewing a copyrighted document. Liability results only when one makes an unauthorized copy of a document. For this reason, academic and scientific researchers are now free to "browse" on telecommunications networks such as the Internet, without fear of violating the Copyright Act.
The difficulty with the proposed bill is that it seeks to redefine a critical term in the Copyright Act, that term being the word "distribution." The effect of the new definition would be that transmitting a digital copy of a document will expose a person conducting academic or scientific research on the Internet to liability. The revised Act will also give broad discretion to copyright owners to bring lawsuits against many users of the Internet. The threat of legal action could greatly decrease the legitimate research and study now widely done on the Internet across our country. The Congress should not inhibit the kind of information diffusion that the NII makes possible.
As a society of academic and scientific professionals, the ACM has a particular interest in the development of a copyright policy that serves a broad mission. We believe that a sound policy should ensure the continued vibrancy of not-for-profit publishers, students, researchers, and the general public even as it seeks to promote commercial publication.
As an integral part of its activities, the ACM is a publisher of numerous journals, some of which are now provided on-line. For this reason, we have considered carefully the proper application of copyright principles in the on-line environment. As part of our newly enacted Copyright Policy, the ACM has chosen to allow and encourage browsing.
It is this type of freedom of access over digital networks which is indispensable to maintain motivated and effective academic and research communities. Nonetheless, we recognize that copyright holders and distributors of copyright works should be free to develop whatever technical methods they believe are appropriate or necessary to protect the value of their publications. Since these interests are likely to vary greatly from institution to institution, and even from author to author, we would prefer that Congress not legislate in a manner that might discourage technical means that would promote the open exchange of information on the Internet. Individual publishers should have the opportunity to decide for themselves how best to strike the balance between copyright protection and the open exchange of information.
As to the matter of security for published works available online, we believe that appropriate technology will soon be deployed. As you aware, there are strong institutional incentives to develop and implement appropriate security safeguards. We caution the Committee not to contort copyright law to address a problem that may be better solved through technical means.
We would also encourage the Committee to consider mechanisms to promote the use of copyright notices online. Such notices could be easily implemented; could help ensure the protection of copyrighted materials; and, at the same time, could distinguish that material which resides properly in the public domain. ACM has decided that the presence of a copyright notice will be an integral part of our efforts to protect intellectual property. The copyright notice which will accompany all digitally published material maintained by the ACM states:
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.
We urge you, now, to take steps to study H.R. 2441 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. 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. We would also welcome the opportunity to provide for you and the Committee a demonstration of online publishing.
Sincerely,
Stu Zweben President, ACM
Barbara Simons Chair, U.S. Public Policy Committee of ACM
cc: Members of the Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property
Enclosure: ACM Copyright Policy ```
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