NINCH >> NINCH Programs >>Copyright SAA: Ashcroft/Boucher-Cambell Support Letters Text of the Senate Letter:   February 3, 1998 Dear Senator I am writing to you as President of the Society of American Archivists, North America's oldest and largest professional archival association. SAA has a membership of 3,500 individuals and institutions concerned with the identification, preservation, and use of records of historic value. Our members are drawn from government agencies, colleges, universities, historical societies, museums, libraries, businesses and religious institutions. We strongly encourage you to cosponsor S. 1146, the "Digital Copyright Clarification and Technology Education Act," recently introduced by Senator John Ashcroft. SAA supports this legislation because it promotes innovation, broad public access, and education at every level, while also protecting copyright in the digital era. Only a comprehensive and balanced legislation can achieve both of these aims. In fulfilling their responsibility to identify, secure, preserve and make accessible the documentary heritage of society, archivists are deeply concerned about some of the proposals for implementing the World Intellectual Property Organization treaties. In particular, archivists have been troubled by proposals that would abridge the public and scholarly users' ability to access historical documents under the "fair use" provisions of the copyright act. At the same time, archivists look to continued, if not expanded, support of the concept of fair use in application to our management of collections. Only with a robust support for fair use will archivists be able to take advantage of new electronic technologies to bring the riches we hold to the benefit of the public at large. Your co-sponsorship of S. 1146 is important to us. By doing so you will significantly enable archives' mission to make our nation's cultural heritage widely accessible and thus support the progress of science and the useful arts. Thank you very much for your time and attention to this issue. We stand ready to speak on its behalf. We greatly appreciate your efforts to maintain in the digital environment the productive balance that currently exists in the print world between the interests of copyright owners and users.   Sincerely, William J. Maher President, Society of American Archivists   Text of the House Letter: February 3, 1998 Dear Rep. I am writing to you as President of the Society of American Archivists, North America's oldest and largest professional archival association. SAA has a membership of 3,500 individuals and institutions concerned with the identification, preservation, and use of records of historic value. Our members are drawn from government agencies, colleges, universities, historical societies, museums, libraries, businesses and religious institutions. We strongly encourage you to co-sponsor H.R. 3048, the "Digital Era Copyright Enhancement Act," recently introduced by Representatives Rick Boucher and Tom Campbell. SAA supports this legislation because it promotes innovation, broad public access, and education at every level, while also protecting copyright in the digital era. Only a comprehensive and balanced legislation can achieve both of these aims. In fulfilling their responsibility to identify, secure, preserve and make accessible the documentary heritage of society, archivists are deeply concerned about some of the proposals for implementing the World Intellectual Property Organization treaties. In particular, archivists have been troubled by proposals that would abridge the public and scholarly users' ability to access historical documents under the "fair use" provisions of the copyright act. At the same time, archivists look to continued, if not expanded, support of the concept of fair use in application to our management of collections. Only with a robust support for fair use will archivists be able to take advantage of new electronic technologies to bring the riches we hold to the benefit of the public at large. Your co-sponsorship of H.R. 3048 is important to us. By doing so you will significantly enable archives' mission to make our nation's cultural heritage widely accessible and thus support the progress of science and the useful arts. Thank you very much for your time and attention to this issue. We stand ready to speak on its behalf. We greatly appreciate your efforts to maintain in the digital environment the productive balance that currently exists in the print world between the interests of copyright owners and users.   Sincerely,   William J. Maher President, Society of American Archivists