John,
Librarians should never be fired or fined for sharing resources with library patrons. But, a US government office has proposed to do just that and we have a very narrow window to stop them. Send a comment to the US Copyright Office right now, telling them to change proposed rules that would subject librarians to predatory extra-judicial fines just for doing their jobs.
COMMENT NOW
The US government recently passed the CASE (Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement) Act,1 a controversial bill that establishes a “Copyright Claims Board” within the US Copyright Office2 where copyright trolls can seek damages—up to $30,000—for copyright violations.
Congress drafted a preemptive “opt-out” for libraries to permanently remove themselves from the Copyright Claims Board system, but the Copyright Office recently proposed that the opt-out does not apply to staff working for the libraries.3 This means that the basic act of sharing a resource like a website or open access scientific journal with a patron could cause librarians to be fined and lose their jobs.4 The separation between libraries and librarians makes absolutely no sense under any law, policy, or real-world experience, and will result in terrible consequences for individual workers.
The Copyright Office is accepting comments in response to this disastrous proposed rule until October 4th, giving us just one week to voice our opposition. Help us protect librarians’ ability to do their jobs—click here to submit a comment voicing your opposition to the proposal and please forward this message on!
Librarians play such an essential role in access to knowledge and information in our communities. They need us right now, and we have a real chance of killing this misguided policy. Help defend librarians by telling the Copyright Office you don’t want library workers to be fired for doing their jobs.
For a future with MORE AND BIGGER libraries,
Lia & the team at ❤️Fight
Footnotes:
1) Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CASE_Act
2) EFF: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/02/some-answers-questions-about-state-copyright-2021
3) PDF from the Copyright Office: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2021-09-02/pdf/2021-18567.pdf
4) Library Futures: https://www.libraryfutures.net/post/protect-library-workers-from-the-case-act
Fight for the Future works to protect your rights in the digital age.
