The Office's recommendation will be forwarded to and considered by the Librarian of Congress. In comments submitted to the Copyright Office in February and March 2000, the American Library Association and its sister library organizations argued that an exemption should be allowed for libraries. The Copyright Office will conduct public hearings to hear testimony from all interested parties. Librarians, legal scholars, economists, computer scientists, and public interest groups, as well as representatives from the publishing, motion picture, recording and software industries, are expected to testify. After the hearings, the Copyright Office will accept additional comments from all interested parties before making its recommendation to the Librarian of Congress.
All libraries have a stake in the final outcome of the rulemaking process.
The rulemaking will determine whether fair use and other exemptions will survive in the digital environment and will affect our ability to meet the needs of library users. Without a meaningful exemption to the anticircumvention measure, libraries may be re-defined as electronic tollbooths to the information superhighway. All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits.