Today, President Barack Obama announced that he would nominate Dr. Carla Hayden, CEO of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Maryland, as the next Librarian of Congress. As the head of the world’s largest library, the Librarian of Congress leads by example on issues affecting public access to knowledge and information. Public Knowledge commends President Obama for his…

Washington — Today the White House announced its intent to nominate Dr. Carla Hayden as the next Librarian of Congress.  Dr. Hayden has helped the Pratt Library in Baltimore modernize its IT and championed digital literacy. The following can be attributed to Computer & Communications Industry Association President & CEO Ed Black: “A librarian who has experience modernizing library information…

Buzzfeed: Fair Use Affects Our Daily Lives. In honor of Fair Use Week, the Re:Create Coalition posted a guide on The 19 Reasons To Be Thankful For “Fair Use.” From watching the Daily Show to viewing gifs on Deadspin or Buzzfeed to dressing up as your favorite character, the post shows just how prevalent fair use is in our daily…

The Center for Democracy & Technology spends a lot of time working on the role of copyright doctrines, like fair use, in enabling new innovations or innovative uses of existing works. The Supreme Court’s Sony v. Universal decision established the central role of fair use in the creation of new technologies that empower users to choose where, when, and how…

*This week is Fair Use Week, an annual celebration of the important doctrines of fair use and fair dealing. It is designed to highlight and promote the opportunities presented by fair use and fair dealing, celebrate successful stories, and explain these doctrines.  Cross-posted from fairuseweek.org* Check out all of the great posts from Day 1 of Fair Use Week 2016!  Don’t…

*This week is Fair Use Week, an annual celebration of the important doctrines of fair use and fair dealing. It is designed to highlight and promote the opportunities presented by fair use and fair dealing, celebrate successful stories, and explain these doctrines. Cross-posted from ARL News* In honor of Fair Use/Fair Dealing Week 2016, five ARL member libraries have created videos…

*Cross-posted from ARL News* In conjunction with Fair Use/Fair Dealing Week 2016, ARL is releasing an infographic that shows how a college student relies on fair use numerous times in a typical day. Fair use and fair dealing are vitally important rights for everybody, everywhere—students, faculty, librarians, journalists, and all users of copyrighted material. These doctrines provide balance to the…

Today, we’re kicking off Fair Use/Fair Dealing Week 2016! While we believe every week is fair use and fair dealing week, February 22-26 is a time to celebrate the important doctrines that provide essential balance in copyright law.  ARL has a number of resources that will be released this week, so stay tuned!  Last year, a number of great resources…

Re:Create Applauds Marrakesh Treaty To Improve Access To Published Works For Disabled.  On Feb. 10, President Obama sent the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled to the Senate for ratification. In response to the treaty, which focuses on copyright exceptions to improve access to books and other…

The Public Domain Takes The Cake In Happy Birthday Copyright Case. New details in the settlement reached by parties in the copyright case over the “Happy Birthday To You” song reveal that as much as $14 million will be offered to those who paid for the rights. The Feb. 9 New York Post article, Settlement gift: ‘Happy Birthday’ song won’t…