Thursday, June 28, 2001

House Subcommittee Chairman Favors Narrower Copyright Exemption for Online Uses By DAN CARNEVALE Washington The chairman of a House of Representatives subcommittee said at a hearing Wednesday that he wanted to move forward with a Senate bill that eases copyright restrictions for online education, rather than consider an alternative measure that would provide slightly broader exemptions. Howard Coble, the North Carolina Republican who is chairman of the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property, said he did not want to see any changes to the Senate legislation, S. 487, so as to not disturb the "delicate" compromise that had gone into crafting the bill. The legislation, called the Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act, would expand the fair-use exemption of copyright law to include online education at accredited nonprofit colleges and universities. The fair-use exemption allows professors to use portions of copyrighted works, such as movies and songs, in class for educational purposes without receiving prior approval from the copyright holders. Proponents say the bill would give distance-education instructors the same rights to use copyrighted works that professors in traditional classrooms have enjoyed for years. The Senate has already passed the bill, which the House subcommittee took up Wednesday. Rep. Rick Boucher, a Virginia Democrat, has proposed a separate bill, H.R. 2100, that is essentially the same, except that it would extend the fair-use exemption to public libraries that offer online education. That difference has made some people uneasy about changing copyright law too much. Although Mr. Coble said he had not seen Mr. Boucher's bill, he noted that the Senate version had a key advantage. "I would rather go with this bill," Mr. Coble said after the hearing. "It appears to have the satisfaction of the players at the table." Mr. Boucher did not attend the hearing and was not available for comment. Allan Robert Adler, vice president for legal and government affairs for the Association of American Publishers, said Mr. Boucher's bill would change too much copyright law too soon. "We don't fully understand what the implications would be," he said in an interview. "We would like to see a period of time pass to see how this works." The publishers' association originally opposed relaxing the copyright restrictions for online education. But after extensive closed-door discussions, the association agreed to the Senate bill. "We would hate to see this reopened to address that issue, because lots of other issues would then be opened," Mr. Adler said. "We're not looking to get any benefit with the passage of this. We face a great risk." But Carrie Russell, a copyright specialist for the American Library Association, said in a later interview that extending the exemption would benefit not only libraries but also people who are seeking educational opportunities outside a college setting. "Libraries in general are looking for exemptions in the copyright law to serve everyone in the country," Ms. Russell said. She said she did not know whether the American Library Association would push for Mr. Boucher's version of the bill or settle for the Senate version. Marybeth Peters, the register of copyrights, said at the hearing that the Senate bill seemed to be the one most parties could agree on. "The parties, including libraries, sat down and decided on this bill," she said afterward. "My goal is to see that this bill gets enacted." Background articles from The Chronicle: Senate Bill Would Help Online Instructors (6/22/2001) Bill Would Ease Some Copyright Restrictions (6/1/2001) Educators Praise Bill to Ease Copyright Restrictions (3/30/2001) Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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