Section 108 Study Group Report

Peter Hirtle reports on the availability of the Section 108 Study Group Report, now available online:

The final report of the Section 108 Study Group, on which I have been serving for three years, has been released.  You will find it, along with an executive summary, at http://www.section108.gov.  The report and executive summary are found as links in the middle of the page; the press release about the final report is to the right.

The report examines what changes should be made to the exemptions for libraries and archives in copyright law in order to address changes brought about by digital technologies.  It may be of interest to anyone engaged in preservation, document delivery, and ILL.

Among the recommendations are:

• Museums should be included for Section 108 eligibility, as they perform many of the same functions as libraries and archives.
• A new exception should be added to Section 108 to permit certain qualified libraries and archives to make preservation copies of at-risk published works prior to any damage or loss. Access to these "preservation-only" copies will be limited.
• A new exception should be added to Section 108 to permit libraries and archives to capture and reproduce publicly available Web sites and other online content for preservation purposes and to make those copies accessible to users for private study, research or scholarship. Rights holders would be able to opt out of this provision.
• Libraries and archives should be permitted to make a limited number of copies, as reasonably necessary, to create and maintain a single replacement or preservation copy. This alteration to the current three-copy limit would, among other things, enable libraries to more securely preserve digital materials, which often involves making copies.

(reprinted with permission) [JJ]