1. EPA Library Closure Update
2. New FAIR USE Legislation Introduced
3. FAIR USE Provision in Copyright Bill in Israel
4. U.S. House of Representatives introduces Amendments to FOIA
5. Proposed Amendments to the U.S. Presidential Records Act
6. National Library Legislative Day
7. U.K. Trying to Close Disclosure?
8. WIPO Mislead

EPA Library Closure Update
SLA has created a summary of the EPA Library closure issues and has provided multiple links to useful sites. SLA opposes EPA's decision to close libraries, and continues to advocate to keep them open. Read more.

New FAIR USE Legislation Introduced
SLA and other organizations have given strong support to the Freedom and Innovation Revitalizing U.S. Entrepreneurship (FAIR USE) Act of 2007, H.R. 1201. The bill will make it easier for digital media consumers to use the content they buy.

Read Press Release.
Read Congress of the United States House of Representatives Press Release.
Read Bill.

FAIR USE Provision in Copyright Bill in Israel
SLA and other organizations representing a broad spectrum of technology
companies, libraries, and consumers, have commended the Knessett Economics Committee for its effort to bring Israeli copyright law into the 21st century and, in particular, for its inclusion of a non-exhaustive fair use provision in its approved text for Section 19 of the pending copyright bill. Copyright law strives to promote the broad availability of literature, music, and other works by providing authors with exclusive rights over their creations while maintaining a rich public domain that allows creativity to flourish. To achieve this optimal level of copyright protection, legislators must balance the scope of rights accorded to authors with limited exceptions to those rights. Read Letter.

U.S. House of Representatives introduces Amendments to FOIA
The U.S. Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 2007 would Amend the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to prohibit a federal agency from denying a requester status as a news media representative for purposes of determining FOIA request processing fees solely on the absence of institutional association. These amendments include improvements to help decrease the backlogging and delays of replying to (FOIA) requests and eliminate current restrictions. Also they direct the Attorney General to report to the Special Counsel and Congress and explain the reasons for their actions to reject a request. Summary of Act.

Proposed Amendments to the U.S. Presidential Records Act
The Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2007 Amends the U.S. Presidential Records Act to require the Archivist of the United States, when making available any presidential record not previously made available publicly, to: (1) promptly provide written notice of such determination to the former President during whose term of office the record was created and the incumbent President; and (2) make the notice available to the public. Read more.

National Library Legislative Day
SLA, in collaboration with ALA, will participate in National Library Legislative Day 1-2 May 2007. Information professionals are invited to Washington, D.C., to participate in the two-day event that will focus on advocacy and issue training sessions, interaction with Capitol Hill insiders and visits to Congressional offices to support legislation that backs libraries. Read More.

U.K. Trying to Close Disclosure?
In the United Kingdom, the Information Commissioner is attempting to get rid of one of the government's main reasons being used to institute limitations on people's right to know about the government. Read More.

WIPO Mislead
The head of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Kamil Idris, may begin to hear calls for his resignation after an investigation found he has lied about his age. A secret report conducted by WIPO's internal auditor, reported in the Financial Times, said Kamil Idris, WIPO's director-general, lied about his age when applying for his first job at the United Nations agency in 1982. He said at the time he was born in 1945. Now he says he was born in 1954. Read More.

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