NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 7, #11, March 14, 2001
> by Bruce Craig <[log in to unmask]> of the National Coordinating Committee
> for the Promotion of History
> *****************
>
> 1. Senate Holds Hearing on Copyright Harmonization Act
>
>
> 1. SENATE HOLDS HEARING ON COPYRIGHT HARMONIZATION ACT
> On March 13, 2001, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the
> Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act of 2001 (S. 487),
> legislation introduced March 7 by Orrin Hatch (R-UT), chairman of the
> Committee and co-sponsored by the Committee's Ranking Democrat, Patrick
> Leahy (D-VT). The objective of the bill is to make it easier to use
> copyrighted material in online instruction. The bill incorporates the
> recommendations made by the United States Copyright Office in a 1999
report
> and suggestions advanced by the Congressional Web-based Education
> Commission.
>
> Under current law, copyrighted material used under "fair use" provisions
in
> a classroom often cannot be used in an online course; securing copyright
> permission can be a lengthy and at times expensive process. The
legislation
> is designed to correct this. Presently, distance educators can only make
> fair use of complete versions of non-dramatic literary and musical works.
> This legislation seeks to enable educators to use limited portions of
> dramatic literary and musical works as well as audiovisual works and sound
> recordings. The legislation relies on safeguards (such as passwords) to
> ensure that only students have access to the copyrighted material.
>
> Testifying in support of the measure was Gerald A. Heeger, President of
the
> University of Maryland University College, an institution that
specializes
> in providing distance education for students worldwide. This legislation,
he
> said, "will move the copyright law in accordance with the educational
> reality of today."
>
> The Association of American Publishers, however, testified in opposition
to
> the bill. The Association's objections were that the language may be too
> broad and that the potential for misuse by students was great. "We don't
> believe the Copyright Act is holding back distance education in any
serious
> way," said Allan Robert Adler, a Vice-President of the Association.
>
> Another witness, Marybeth Peters, Register of Copyrights, spoke in favor
of
> amending the bill to extend the fair-use exemption to for-profit colleges
> and universities so that they, along with nonprofit educational
> institutions, could benefit from the exemptions. Because of the strong
> bi-partisan support for the bill, it is expected to clear the Senate
> Judiciary Committee fairly quickly.
>
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