[A2k] CENDI Workshop: Copyright and Marking US Government Works (Nov 2, 2006)

[Manon Ress]

From: "Michael Kisielewski" <mkisiele@aaas.org>
Date: October 11, 2006 3:17:19 PM EDT

Dear Colleagues:

Please refer to the following announcement, which I am sharing on
behalf of the CENDI Copyright Working Group.  It is best viewed by
your e-mail program in .html display.


ANNOUNCING A CENDI WORKSHOP

CENDI (www.cendi.gov ) is a cooperative of the major U.S. Government

scientific and technical information centers.



Copyright and Marking US Government Works:

Why Keep the Public Guessing?

Harding Auditorium

U.S. Government Printing Office

Washington DC

November 2, 2006



The CENDI Copyright Working Group is exploring the feasibility of
establishing a symbol, tag and metadata to mark and identify
government works (Title 17 USC Sec 105) in analog and digital
formats. This is of immediate interest since the Federal Research
Public Access Bill (Cronyn-Lieberman) includes a provision requiring
that works by Federal employees be marked as being in the public
domain when they are published. Whether implemented government-wide
or on a department or agency basis, marking government works would
benefit both government and citizen users in identifying what is a
government work and free from copyright restrictions. The program is
designed to go from the general to the specific =96 from policy to
operations. An underlying theme is the role and need for standards in
government digital enterprise initiatives.



The public conference will be held from 9:30am-2:30pm. A small
working group session for US government and support contractors only
follows from 2:45pm-4:00pm.



WHO SHOULD ATTEND: Government Information Managers, CIOs, Librarians,
Government IP Attorneys, Government Editors, Publishers and Web
Managers, Public Affairs Managers

REGISTRATION:

Register by October 23, 2006 http://cendievents.infointl.com/gimws2006



There is no registration fee; however, you must register for entry
into the GPO building.  U.S. Government employees should bring their
Government I.D.s.  Non-U.S. Government employees must have a valid
picture I.D. such as a Drivers License.

The registration site also includes a preliminary program and
directions.



BACKGROUND: Government works are defined under Title 17 USC Sec 101
as =93prepared by an officer or employee of the United States
government as part of that person=92s official duties.=94 Government
agencies on their web sites usually advise users that information on
the site is not copyrighted unless otherwise stated, and that absent
a notice, the information may be distributed or copied. Prior to
joining the Berne Convention in 1989, it was reasonable and practical
for the government not to give notice or mark government works. Post-
Berne, this practice leads to confusion and uncertainty. When the
work is separated from its originating source, you're forced to
guess. Under the old law, the burden was on the copyright holder to
give notice or else forfeit copyright protection. Now that a notice
is optional and automatically "vests in original works of
authorship," the burden is on users. Absent a copyright notice, users
must assume the work is copyrighted, investigate its status and seek
permission if their intended use is beyond the allowed exemptions.



A government mark would serve as Copyright Management Information
(CMI), defined under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) as
identifying information about a work, author, copyright owner (or
not) as well as terms and conditions for use of the work.



This question of marking government works is of immediate interest
since the Federal Research Public Access Bill (Cronyn-Lieberman) has,
as one of its provisions, the requirement that works by Federal
employees =93be marked as being public domain material when
published.=94  Whether the bill ever passes, agencies may choose to
implement some or all of the provisions, following the lead of the
National Institutes of Health.



QUESTIONS: Contact Kathryn Johnson, CENDI Secretariat,
kjohnson@iiaweb.com.




Michael Kisielewski
Program Associate, Science and Intellectual Property in the Public
Interest
American Association for the Advancement of Science
1200 New York Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20005
Ph.  202-326-6220
Fax. 202-289-4950
mkisiele@aaas.org
http://sippi.aaas.org