News ARL and ALA Release Statement on Showing Films in the Classroom ARL and the American Library Association (ALA) recently released a statement, Performance of or Showing Films in the Classroom. This statement provides guidance on the digital delivery of content to the “physical” classroom. When the Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act was enacted in 2002, librarians hoped that it would provide some clarity on copyright exceptions for the digital delivery of content for distance education. In reality, understanding what is permitted under the TEACH Act in combination with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and existing exceptions like fair use have become more confusing to many practitioners. The statement was written by Jonathan Band, legal counsel to ALA and ARL Peter Jaszi, Professor of Law, Faculty Director of the Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Clinic at American University Washington College of Law and Kenneth D. Crews, Director of the Copyright Advisory Office at Columbia University. The statement is available at http://www.arl.org/pp/ppcopyright/webdigitalpsa.shtml. UIUC’s Janice Pilch Named ARL Visiting Program Officer ARL has appointed Janice Pilch as a Visiting Program Officer (VPO) on International Copyright to work with ARL’s Public Policies Strategic Direction. She is Associate Professor of Library Administration and Humanities Librarian at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library. Pilch’s VPO position will greatly enhance ARL’s efforts in the international copyright arena. In particular, her assignment will contribute to the work of the Library Copyright Alliance (LCA), whose members include ARL, the American Library Association (ALA), and the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). The Visiting Program Officer on International Copyright will be responsible for research and policy formulation on international copyright issues relating to libraries. This includes identifying further strategic directions and potential alliances in which ARL and LCA may seek to influence legislation, as well as public policies governing use of copyrighted materials at the national and international levels. RLI 266 21 OCTOBER 2009 RESEARCH LIBRARY ISSUES: A BIMONTHLY REPORT FROM ARL, CNI, AND SPARC