ALA, ARL release guidance on digital delivery of content to classrooms

CONTACTS:


Jenni Terry


ALA Washington Office Press Officer


(202) 628-8410, jterry@alawash.org

Prudence S. Adler


ARL Associate Executive Director


(202) 296-2296, prue@arl.org


For Immediate Release


September 10, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Library Association (ALA) and the Association of Research Libraries have released a document titled “
Performance of or Showing Films in the Classroom” to provide guidance on digital delivery of content to the “physical” classroom.

According to the associations, the Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act enacted in 2002 does not provide librarians clarity on copyright exceptions for the digital delivery of content for distance education. Thus, understanding what is permitted under the TEACH Act in combination with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and existing exceptions, such as fair use, is becoming increasingly confusing to many practitioners.

The statement was written by Jonathan Band, legal counsel to ALA and ARL
; Peter Jaszi, Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Clinic at American University Washington College of Law; and Kenneth D. Crews, Director of the Copyright Advisory Office at Columbia University.

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