Other Matters

On January 31, 2011, the Library Copyright Alliance (LCA) released a paper, written by Jonathan Band, that examines the much-discussed Costco v. Omega non-decision, which left in place a controversial 9th Circuit ruling that could have significant consequences for library lending practices.

On February 19, 2010, the Library Copyright Alliance (LCA) released an issue brief that reviews the legal status of streaming entire films to students located outside of physical classrooms. The discussion was prompted by recent news of a disagreement between the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and a media equipment trade association over the streaming of films to students...

On April 2, 2009, members of the Library Copyright Alliance joined public interest groups, library associations, and trade associations to urge President Obama to increase the balance in appointments to intellectual property policy positions and to create offices devoted to promoting innovation and free expression within the relevant agencies.

On March 17, 2009, the American Library Association and the Association of Research Libraries joined other nonprofits and industry associations in voicing support for the Solicitor General in advising the Supreme court against granting certiorari in the case of CNN v. Cablevision.

In December 2008, members of the Library Copyright Alliance joined other organizations in releasing a set of agenda items to urge the Administration to safeguard the copyright balance and protect the right to innovate in order to ensure the vitality of the information-driven economy.

In December 2008, the Library Copyright Alliance released a set of agenda items focused on the goals of LCA in regard to copyright issues that have a significant effect on the services libraries provide to their users, as well as fostering global access to information for creative, research, and educational uses.

In August 2007 the Library Copyright Alliance wrote a letter to Deborah Platt Majoras, Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), in strong support of a request for an investigation and complaint for injunctive relief filed by the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA). The CCIA filed a FTC complaint on behalf of consumers against Major League Baseball, the National...

On November 16, 2005, Prudence S. Adler gave a statement on behalf of the LCA in a Hearing on “Fair Use: Its Effects on Consumers and Industry.” The statement was presented to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection, U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Energy and Commerce. Fair use is central to libraries ability to achieve many facets...

June 27, 2005–In a unanimous ruling in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios v. Grokster, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that distributors of peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing systems may be held liable if they actively induce copyright infringement by users of those P2P systems. Importantly, the Court strongly reaffirmed its earlier ruling in Sony Corp of America v. Universal City Studios which held that technologies...