| Abstract: | The Section 108 Study Group, convened in 2005 by the Library of Congress to recommend changes to that section of the US Copyright Act to recognize the role of digital technologies in current library and archives practices, issued its Report in March 2008. The Report makes a number of recommendations that strengthen the ability of qualifying institutions to make preservation copies of both analog and digital works, including websites, to make replacement copies of works no longer commercially available, and to permit outsourcing. It recommends that museums be eligible for the Section 108 exceptions, and that the television news exception be amended to permit streaming transmission for private study, scholarship, and research. It also recommends eligible institutions be permitted to provide off‐premises digital copies to users, provided that certain requirements and restrictions be met. It also considered some other questions but came to no recommendation or conclusion, such as whether digital‐only libraries and archives should be eligible for the Section 108 exceptions. |
