On 2 April 2009, multiple library associations (including SLA), public interest groups and trade associations sent a letter to President Obama asking that his future appointments to intellectual property (IP) policy positions reflect the diversity of stakeholders affected by IP policy, and that his administration create offices devoted to promoting innovation and free expression within the relevant agencies.
Several of President Obama’s appointees to positions that oversee the formulation and implementation of IP policy have, immediately prior to their appointments, represented copyright industries. There is concern because overzealous expansion and enforcement of copyright can quash innovative information technologies, the development and marketing of new and useful devices, and the creation of new works, as well as prohibit the public from accessing and using its cultural heritage.
SLA’s Public Policy Platform supports government policies that strike a fair and equitable balance among the rights and interests of all parties in the creation, distribution, and use of information and other intellectual property.
Read letter sent to President Obama
Read article in Wired News
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