Public Policy Connections

Google Counsel Speaks on Agreement on Book Search

On 30 October in Washington, D.C., Alex Macgillivray, Associate General Council with Google, spoke and answered questions from various groups about the settlement agreement between Google, the Authors Guild, and the Association of American Publishers (AAP) on behalf of a broad class of authors and publishers worldwide regarding Google Book Search. Macgillivray is the principal on the agreement.

The settlement agreement, if approved by a New York District Court (likely in June 2009), will provide more access to out-of-print books, create a new market for authors and publishers, and provide benefits to libraries and universities. As with any settlement agreement, the devil is in the details, and what is not yet established is what the pricing mechanism will be, and other possible access benefits or barriers. There will be much more to come on this in the next several months.

SLA to Participate in Discussion Regarding Book Search Announcement at Google Today

Google, the Authors Guild, and the Association of American Publishers announced that they have settled their longstanding legal battle over Google’s mass scanning of books.

The publishers and authors argued that Google’s scanning of books for its Google Book Search program was a flagrant violation of copyright law’s provisions governing fair use. Google is to pay $125-million to establish a Book Rights Registry, to compensate authors and publishers whose copyrighted books have already been scanned, and to cover legal costs.

SLA staff have been invited to the Google D.C.office this afternoon for a private briefing and Q&A on the court's decision. The SLA Public Policy team will attend this important meeting and report back on what we learn as well as how this decision will affect the members of SLA.

Read news story. Read more details on Google's blog post.

SLA Attends EPA HQ and Chemical Libraries Open House

SLA Public Policy staff members attended the open house held by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Headquarters and Chemical Libraries on 23 October 2008 in Washington, D.C. EPA's Assistant Administrator for the Office of Environmental Information and Chief Information Officer, Molly O’Neill, provided welcoming remarks and tours of the facility were provided for all in attendance.

Pictured from left to right in the photo above are: Natalie Gozzard, SLA; Doug Newcomb, SLA; Molly O'Neill, EPA; and SLA member Debbie Balsamo, EPA.

Pictured from left to right in the photo at left are: Doug Newcomb, SLA; SLA members Emma McNamara and Randy Brinkhuis, EPA; Mike Flynn, EPA; SLA member Debbie Balsamo, EPA; and Natalie Gozzard, SLA.

On 30 September, EPA reopened libraries in Chicago, Dallas, and Kansas City, in addition to the headquarters offices in Washington, D.C. Read SLA’s press release on the EPA library reopenings.

SLA Granted Observer Status in WIPO

SLA has been granted observer status to meetings of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). WIPO observer status grants SLA an important voice in intellectual property and provides an additional forum for advocacy. 

Read more in SLA CEO Janice Lachance's Executive Connections blog post.

EPA Invites Comments on Information Access Strategy Draft

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established The National Dialogue on Access to Environmental Information to ascertain from its customers and partners what kind of environmental information is needed and how it needs to be delivered. The Dialogue is to offer a variety of forums for participation: online and in-person forums, stakeholder sessions, and special events. At those different events and on the National Dialogue Web site, interested parties can help by suggesting actions EPA should take to improve information access. EPA’s Information Access Strategy Draft will be available for comment until 14 November 2008.

First Online Foreign Agent Lobbying Database Released

The Sunlight Foundation has released a beta version of FARAdb, which digitizes reports filed by lobbyists representing 15 foreign countries required by the Foreign Agent Registration Act. The reports disclose specific details about which government officials, including members of Congress and their staffs, were contacted by lobbyists for each client and gives details about what specific issues were discussed.

Read Sunlight Foundation press release.

Open Access Publishers Announce Formation of Trade Association

The Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA) has been formed, representing yet another step in the maturation of Open Access (OA). The mission of OASPA is to support and represent the interests of OA journals publishers globally in all scientific, technical, and scholarly disciplines through an exchange of information, setting of industry standards, advancing business and publishing models, advocating for gold OA journals publishing, education and the promotion of innovation.

Membership is open to scholarly publishers and professional publishing organizations, including university presses and for-profit and non-profit organizations alike that have signed either the Berlin or Budapest OA declarations and publish at least one full OA journal. Individuals and other organizations supporting OA journal publishing, such as library groups, are also eligible to join.

Read news story.

The announcement of OASPA’s official launch came in conjunction with the first-ever “Open Access Day.”

Open Access Pioneer BioMed Central Acquired by Springer

Major scientific publisher Springer Science+Business Media has acquired BioMed Central (BMC), one of the leading global open access publishers committed to providing free access to peer-reviewed research in the biological and medical sciences.

BMC, founded in 2000, was the first for-profit open access publisher. Many advocates of the open access movement followed BMC with interest, worrying that when the company was sold, its approach might change. BioMed Central’s publisher assured editors that the BMC board of trustees will continue to safeguard BMC’s open access policy in the future.

Read news story.

Orphan Works Legislation Dies in the House

After passing in the Senate on 26 September, the Orphan Works bill, which limits remedies in copyright infringement cases involving orphan works, died in the House on 3 October after Congress voted on the financial rescue bill and ajourned.

In June 2008, The Library Copyright Alliance, of which SLA is a member, wrote a letter to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) expressing appreciation for their continued leadership on the bill. The letter proposed amendments to orphan works legislation.

Amicus Brief Submitted in Arista v. Lime Wire on Secondary Liability and Inducement

Several groups, including SLA, submitted an amicus brief on the issue of 'secondary liability' and the 'inducement' rule in the case of Arista Records v. Lime Wire. 

In the case, Arista seeks to hold Lime Wire liable for acts of copyright infringement by users of its software. The brief serves as a reminder that "the law requires caution in assessing whether to impose copyright liability on the makers of multi-use technologies."

Read more about the brief on Privacy Digest.  For additional information, visit the Electronic Frontier Foundation page on Arista v. Lime Wire or Ray Beckerman's Recording Industry vs. The People blog and his index of litigation documents about this case.