Section 108 Study Group Releases Report

Abstract:     
Over the last three years, a panel of government, academic and information industry experts have been studying the copyright challenges faced by libraries and archives in managing and preserving digital content. On March 31, 2008 the panel, which had been convened by the U.S. Copyright Office as the Section 108 Study Group, released its report recommending an extensive series of changes to Section 108 of the U.S. Copyright Act.

Section 108 was created as part of the Copyright Act of 1976 and provides limited copyright exemptions for libraries and archives. While it has been amended periodically over the last 30 years, Section 108 is very complicated and does not adequately address issues like archiving of Web content, preservation of both analog and digital works, and digital delivery of copies. The Study Group was convened to explore these challenges, and make recommendations to the U.S. Copyright Office for changes. This work reviews many of the Group’s recommendations.

Keywords: copyright law, reform, Copyright Act of 1976, Section 108 of the U.S. Copyright Act, Section 108 Study Group, digital content, U.S. Copyright Office

Accepted Paper Series