NINCH ANNOUNCEMENT
September 22, 1998



           NATIONAL HUMANITIES ALLIANCE ALERT ON COPYRIGHT TREATIES
                  Database Legislation Included in House Bill


>Date: Mon, 21 Sep 1998 16:51:45 -0400 (EDT)
>From: John Hammer <[log in to unmask]>
>To: Multiple recipients of list <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: WIPO crunch
>
>
>21 September 1998
>
>TO:   NHA Members and Friends
>FR:    John Hammer
>
>RE:  The crunch comes on WIPO
>
>
>There is urgent need for telephone calls or other communication with every
>member of the Senate concerning the about-to-begin conference on the
>implementation legislation for the WIPO treaties.  Each senate office
>should receive communications carry the following message:
>
>
>DO NOT CONSIDER DATABASE LEGISLATION IN THE CONFERENCE ON IMPLEMENTING
>LEGISLATION FOR THE WIPO TREATIES (H.R.2281)
>
>
>RECENT BACKGROUND - Late last week, the Senate passed a bill numbered
>H.R.2281.  H.R. 2281 is the number assigned by the House for its
>legislation to amend Title 17, United States Code, to implement  the World
>Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty and the WIPO
>Performance and Phonograms Treaty.
>Slyly, the Senate struck all the House language after the treaty enactment
>clauses and inserted in its place the text of S. 2037, the WIPO
>legislation that passed the Senate in May.
>
>A conference is expected as early as Wednesday of this week will seek to
>reconcile differences between the two chambers' legislation.  As reported
>on September 9, the House version of H.R. 2281 includes the entire
>"Collections of Information Antipiracy Act" (H.R. 2652) -- a way of
>securing a copyright-like protection for databases that is a) overly broad
>with potentially deleterious effects on science, education, and
>information; b) unlike copyright and patents, would grant open-ended
>ownership that could be extended in perpetuity; meaningless "fair use"
>provision because they do not apply to potential markets (i.e., most
>scholarly and educational research are writing for actual, if small,
>markets.  The administration believes the legislation is unconstitutional
>but establishing that could take months...years.
>
>The measure is offered with very little debate, no hearings in the Senate
>and deserves to be examined as separate legislation in the next Congress.
>
>All members of the Senate may be reached through the Capitol Switchboard
>202/224-3121.
>
===============================================================

David L. Green
Executive Director
NATIONAL INITIATIVE FOR A NETWORKED CULTURAL HERITAGE
21 Dupont Circle, NW
Washington DC 20036
www-ninch.cni.org
[log in to unmask]
202/296-5346                                  202/872-0886 fax

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