Intellectual Property and the Internet/American Library Association

thumb|ALA logo The American Library Association or ALA is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world,http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761563357/American_Library_Association.html American Library Association 2009 Encarta® Online Encyclopedia Microsoft https://web.archive.org/web/20091029132054if_/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761563357/American_Library_Association.html October 29, 2009 with more than 57,000 members as of 2017.http://www.ala.org/aboutala/sites/ala.org.aboutala/files/content/2017-ala-annual-report-for-web.pdf Annual Report 2017 2018 American Library Association PDF https://web.archive.org/web/20190218082028if_/http://www.ala.org/aboutala/sites/ala.org.aboutala/files/content/2017-ala-annual-report-for-web.pdf February 18, 2019 October 25, 2019 The Association has worked throughout its history to define, extend, protect and advocate for equity of access to information.http://eprints.rclis.org/3788/1/Rocks_in_the_Whirlpool.pdf Rocks in the Whirlpool de la Peña McCook Kathleen 2002 May Equity of Access American Library Association Office for Information Technology Policy https://web.archive.org/web/20181103080628if_/http://eprints.rclis.org/3788/1/Rocks_in_the_Whirlpool.pdf November 3, 2018 December 21, 2011 ALA membership is open to any person or organization, though most of its members are libraries or librarians. The official purpose of the association is "to promote library service and librarianship." Members may join any of seventeen round tables that are grouped around more specific interests and issues than the broader set of ALA divisions. Political positions The ALA advocates positions on United States political issues that it believes are related to libraries and librarianship. For court cases that touch on issues about which the organization holds positions, the ALA often files amici curiae briefs, voluntarily offering information on some aspect of the case to assist the court in deciding a matter before it. The ALA has an office in Washington, D.C., that lobbies Congress on issues relating to libraries, information and communication. It also provides materials to libraries that include information on how to comply with the law and how to oppose a law.http://www.ala.org/advocacy/copyright Advocacy, Legislation & Issues: Copyright American Library Association October 25, 2019 Intellectual freedom The primary documented expressions of the ALA's intellectual freedom principles are the Freedom to Read Statementhttp://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/statementspols/ftrstatement/freedomreadstatement.cfm Freedom to Read Statement ALA September 1, 2010 and the Library Bill of Rights; the Library Bill of Rights urges libraries to "challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment."http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/index.cfm Library Bill of Rights ALA September 1, 2010 The ALA Code of Ethics also calls on librarians to "uphold the principles of intellectual freedom and resist all efforts to censor library resources."http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/proethics/codeofethics/codeethics.cfm Article II, ALA Code of Professional Ethics ALA September 1, 2010 The ALA maintains an Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) headed by Barbara M. Jones, former University Librarian for Wesleyan University and internationally known intellectual freedom advocate and author. 2009-12-02 http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6709656.html Barbara Jones, Ex-Director at Wesleyan, Named Head of ALA OIF and FTRF Library Journal MediaSource, Inc. 2010-09-01 She is the second director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom, succeeding Judith Krug, who headed the office for four decades. OIF is charged with "implementing ALA policies concerning the concept of intellectual freedom,"http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/index.cfm Office for Intellectual Freedom ALA 2010-09-02 that the ALA defines as "the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction. It provides for free access to all expressions of ideas through which any and all sides of a question, cause or movement may be explored."http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/basics/ifcensorshipqanda.cfm Intellectual Freedom and Censorship Q & A ALA 2010-09-01 Its goal is "to educate librarians and the general public about the nature and importance of intellectual freedom in libraries." The OIF compiles lists of challenged books as reported in the media and submitted to them by librarians across the country.http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/index.cfm Frequently Challenged Books ALA 2010-09-01 Its actions are not without controversy; for example, Nat Hentoff noted "An issue facing all members of the ALA is their leaders' shameful exception of the Cuban people's freedom to read."http://leadercall.com/columns/x1593276302/American-Library-Association-shamed American Library Association Shamed Nat Hentoff Nat Hentoff Laurel Leader-Call 2007-03-02 2010-09-06 Hentoff's characterization contradicts the ALA's official position on Cuba, which urges the Cuban Government "to eliminate obstacles to access to information" and expresses "deep concern" for political dissidents in Cuba.http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/iro/iroactivities/alacubanlibraries.cfm ALA and Cuban Libraries American Library Association 2010-11-26 In 1999, radio personality Laura Schlessinger campaigned publicly against the ALA's intellectual freedom policy, specifically in regard to the ALA's refusal to remove a link on its web site to a specific sex-education site for teens. 1999-05-10 http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA158676.html "Dr. Laura" Continues Criticism of ALA Library Journal MediaSource, Inc. 2006-11-14 Sharon Presley said, however, that Schlessinger "distorted and misrepresented the ALA stand to make it sound like the ALA was saying porno for 'children' is O.K."Presley Sharon 2001 Winter http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=library&page=presley_21_1 Don't Listen to Dr. Laura Free Inquiry 41 1 2007-03-08 In 2002, the ALA filed suit with library users and the ACLU against the United States Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), which required libraries receiving federal E-rate discounts for Internet access to install a "technology protection measure" to prevent children from accessing "visual depictions that are obscene, child pornography, or harmful to minors."http://www.ifea.net/cipa.pdf Text of the Children's Internet Protection Act At trial, the federal district court struck down the law as unconstitutional.United States v. Am. Lib. Asso., 201 F.Supp.2d 401, 490 (2002) The government appealed this decision, and on June 23, 2003, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the law as constitutional as a condition imposed on institutions in exchange for government funding. In upholding the law, the Supreme Court, adopting the interpretation urged by the U.S. Solicitor General at oral argument, made it clear that the constitutionality of CIPA would be upheld only "if, as the Government represents, a librarian will unblock filtered material or disable the Internet software filter without significant delay on an adult user's request." http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=539&invol=194 US v ALA 539 U.S. 194, 2003 FindLaw 2007-03-21 Privacy In 2003, the ALA passed a resolution opposing the USA PATRIOT Act, which called sections of the law "a present danger to the constitutional rights and privacy rights of library users".2003-01-29 http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/statementspols/ifresolutions/resolutionusa.cfm Resolution on the USA PATRIOT Act and Related Measures that Infringe on the Rights of Library Users ALA 2010-09-01 Since then, the ALA and its members have sought to change the law by working with members of Congress and educating their communities and the press about the law's potential to violate the privacy rights of library users. ALA has also participated as an amicus curiae in lawsuits filed by individuals challenging the constitutionality of the USA PATRIOT Act, including a lawsuit filed by four Connecticut librarians after the library consortium they managed was served with a National Security Letter seeking information about library users. Cowan Alison Leigh 2006-05-31 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/31/nyregion/31library.html?ex=1306728000&en=9f197630a8f4a0a9&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss Four Librarians Finally Break Silence in Records Case The New York Times 2007-02-07 After several months of litigation, the lawsuit was dismissed when the FBI decided to withdraw the National Security Letter. 2006-06-26 http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/FBI_drops_demand_for_information_from_0626.html FBI drops demand for information from Connecticut library group Raw Story 2007-02-07 October 2010 H3llBot In 2007 the "Connecticut Four" were honored by the ALA with the Paul Howard Award for Courage for their challenge to the National Security Letter and gag order provision of the USA PATRIOT Act. McCook, Kathleen de la Peña (2011), Introduction to Public Librarianship, pp. 63-64. 2nd ed. New York, Neal-Schuman. In 2006, the ALA sold humorous "radical militant librarian" buttons for librarians to wear in support of the ALA's stances on intellectual freedom, privacy, and civil liberties.http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/archive/radicalbutton.cfm "Radical, Militant Librarian" Button ALA 2010-09-01 Inspiration for the button’s design came from documents obtained from the FBI by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The request revealed a series of e-mails in which FBI agents complained about the "radical, militant librarians" while criticizing the reluctance of FBI management to use the secret warrants authorized under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act.2006-01-17 http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=pressreleases&template=/contentmanagement/contentdisplay.cfm&ContentID=113573 ALA introduces "Radical, Militant Librarian" button ALA 2007-03-07 Copyright The ALA "supports efforts to amend the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and urges the courts to restore the balance in copyright law, ensure fair use and protect and extend the public domain".Nisbet Miriam October 2006 http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/copyright/copyagenda.pdf 2006 Copyright Agenda PDF ALA 2010-09-01 It supports changing copyright law to eliminate damages when using orphan works without permission;http://www.copyright.gov/orphan/comments/OW0658-LCA.pdf Re: Orphan Works Notice of Inquiry Library Copyright Alliance / U.S. Copyright Office 2009-07-12 is wary of digital rights management; and, in ALA v. FCC, successfully sued the Federal Communications Commission to prevent regulation that would enforce next-generation digital televisions to contain rights-management hardware. It has joined the Information Access Alliance to promote open access to research.http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/copyright/openaccesstoresearch/index.cfm Open Access ALA 2010-09-01 The Copyright Advisory Network of the Association's Office for Information Technology Policy provides copyright resources to libraries and the communities they serve. See also Library Bill of Rights the rights of library users to intellectual freedom and the expectations the association places on libraries to support those rights References External links libraries American Library Association Official website