Section 108
Section 108 Study Group
In 2004, the Library of Congress appointed the “Section 108 Study Group” comprised of librarians, lawyers and members of the commercial sector, to determine if changes to the copyright law are necessary to address the reproduction of digital works. The group is charged with making recommendations to the Librarian of Congress by mid-2007 for possible alterations to Section 108 of the copyright law, 17 U.S. Code, commonly known as “the libraries and archives reproduction exception.” Section 108 allows qualified libraries and archives to make reproductions of protected works without prior authorization for purposes of replacement, preservation, and interlibrary loan, among other things. (For more info, visit the Section 108 Study Group web site )
ALA and other library associations have closely followed Section 108 Study Group activities, have responded to calls for written comments in Federal Register February 15, 2006 (PDF), and December 4, 2006 (PDF), and have prepared testimony for the three public roundtables held thus far. Section 108 is critically important to libraries because of its link to several critical library functions.
Background
In June 2006, OITP and the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) convened a meeting in Chicago to discuss the needs and concerns of the library, archive and museum communities regarding proposed changes to Section 108. The OITP/ARL meeting focused on specific aspects of the law likely to be proposed by the Study Group including a new digital preservation exception, off-site access to digitized replacement and preservation copies, and a new exception for preservation of websites and other online content. A second meeting was held in January 4-5, 2007, to address new questions posed by the Study Group regarding interlibrary loan and copies for users.
ALA and ARL Comments on Access and Preservation
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Part II: Detailed Responses to Study Group Questions (Nov 2006, PDF)
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4/24/06 (PDF)
Public Roundtables
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Public Roundtable (January 31, 2007) Copyright Exceptions for Interlibrary Loan and Copies for Users ()
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Public Roundtables (March 8 and 16, 2006) Digitization for Replacement and Preservation, Web Archiving, Access to Digital Copies
Transcripts for both roundtables are available at the Section 108 Study Group website.
Section 108 Study Group Resources
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A Legal Analysis of Library Website Archiving: A New Day for Website Archiving: Field v. Google and Parker v. Google, Jonathan Band, 8/25/06 (PDF)