[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