Contact: Craig D'Ooge (202) 707-9189

February 26, 1996

MEDIA ADVISORY
Copyright Office To Hold Conference on Managing and Protecting Digital Information on Networks

The United States Copyright Office, together with the Interactive Multimedia Association, will hold a conference on technology-based solutions for managing rights to digital information on Thursday, March 7, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Sheraton Crystal City, 1800 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, Va. Previous registration is required. More than 100 representatives from clearinghouses, licensing agents, rights societies and collectives, on-line providers, developers, library groups, associations, and government agencies are expected to attend.

Register of Copyrights Marybeth Peters said, "It is essential for owners of all types of copyrightable works to focus on the development of mutually compatible and centralized mechanisms for efficient and cost-effective licensing of their products. Otherwise, the basic goals of copyright protection, namely adequate protection for copyright owners balanced with the legitimate needs of users, will not be achieved by the emerging digital networks."

The goal of the conference is to bring together representatives from government and private industry to discuss mutual interests and requirements for distributing digitized intellectual property while protecting the rights of creators. This is especially important because currently most secure distribution systems are proprietary and not compatible. The U.S. Copyright Office will present a status report on the development of its digital registration and deposit system, CORDS (Copyright Office Electronic Registration and Deposit System).

In addition to the Copyright Office, organizations making presentations at the conference will include the Association of American Publishers, the Copyright Clearance Center, the Corporation for National Research Initiatives, the Electronic Rights Management Group (IIA), IBM, the Information Infrastructure Standards Panel/ANSI, the Interactive Multimedia Association, and the World Wide Web Consortium, among others.

The U.S. Copyright Office has been a part of the Library of Congress since 1870. In addition to administering the copyright law, the office creates and maintains the public record of copyright registration, provides technical assistance and policy advice on copyright issues to Congress and executive branch agencies, offers information to the general public, promotes improved copyright protection for U.S. creative works abroad, and obtains deposits for the collections of the Library of Congress.

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PR 96-30
2/26/96
ISSN 0731-3527

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