[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 199 (Monday, October 17, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-25712]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: October 17, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
Conference on ``Fair Use'' and the National Information
Infrastructure (NII)
AGENCY: Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of meetings.
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SUMMARY: The Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights of the White
House Information Infrastructure Task Force (IITF) is sponsoring a
conference to bring together copyright owner and user interests to
develop voluntary guidelines for fair uses of copyrighted works by and
in public libraries and schools. The first meeting of the conference
was held in Washington, DC, on September 21, 1994. Notice of that
meeting and other details about the conference were published at 59 FR
46823 on September 12, 1994. Three subcommittees were formed at the
first meeting. Subsequent meetings for those subcommittees have been
scheduled. The meetings are open to the public, limited only by the
seating availability in the room.
DATES: The Library Subcommittee of the Conference on Fair Use will meet
from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Friday, October 21, 1994. The
Elementary--High School Subcommittee will meet from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00
p.m. on Monday, October 24, 1994. The University Subcommittee will meet
from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 1994.
ADDRESSES: The subcommittee meetings will be held at the Patent and
Trademark Office in Room 912 of Crystal Park Two, 2121 Crystal Drive,
Arlington, Virginia 22202.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chris Meyer or Michael O'Neil, Office
of Legislative and International Affairs, U.S. Patent and Trademark-
Office, Box 4, Washington, DC 20231. Telephone: (703) 305-9300/Fax:
(703) 305-8885.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Working Group on Intellectual Property
Rights, chaired by Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Commissioner of
Patents and Trademarks Bruce A. Lehman, was established as part of the
White House Information Infrastructure Task Force. The Task Force,
chaired by Secretary of Commerce Ronald H. Brown, was created to work
with Congress and the private sector to develop comprehensive
telecommunications and information policies aimed at articulating and
implementing the Administration's vision for the National Information
Infrastructure (NII).
The Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights issued
``Intellectual Property and the National Information Infrastructure: A
Preliminary Draft of the Report of the Working Group on Intellectual
Property Rights'' in July of 1994. The Preliminary Draft represented
the Working Group's examination and analysis to date of the
intellectual property implications of the NII, and included the Group's
draft findings and recommendations. In the Preliminary Draft, the
Working Group expressed concerns about the applicability of the
library, educational use, and fair use exemptions of the Copyright Act,
as well as the voluntary guidelines, for libraries and schools in the
NII environment. The Working Group suggested that at least the
guidelines for library and educational use of printed matter and music
that were voluntarily adopted by diverse parties and set out in the
House and Conference Reports accompanying the Copyright Act require
modification or elaboration to deal with digital works and on-line
services. The Conference on Fair Use was established to facilitate that
process.
Dated: October 12, 1994.
Bruce A. Lehman,
Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Commissioner of Patents and
Trademarks.
[FR Doc. 94-25712 Filed 10-14-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-M
