CAA Fair Use of Digital Images-Town meeting 2/16 (fwd)

IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                   Contact: (212) 691-1051
February 4, 1997                                   Katie Hollander, ext.206
                                                     Craig Houser, ext. 208
                                                  Mary-Beth Shine, ext. 210
                                                    nyoffice[_at_]collegeart.org

PRESS RELEASE TOWN MEETING: FAIR USE OF DIGITAL IMAGES THE COOPER UNION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE AND ART SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1997, 9:30-4:30 Fair Use of Digital Images, the first in a series of town meetings co-sponsored by the College Art Association and the American Council of Learned Societies, will take place on Sunday, February 16, from 9:30 to 4:30 at Cooper Union's Great Hall, 1 Cooper Square. This first town meeting follows the 85th annual College Art Association conference at the New York Hilton, February 12-15, 1997.

What can artists, curators, librarians, and scholars do with digital images? Although technologies of digital networks open the door to many new possibilities, copyright law will also play a critical role in shaping what we can do. The purpose of this first town meeting is to allow wide discussion of what is "fair use" of digital images.

Digital networks pose many new challenges for copyright law. This is particularly so with regard to images, which may now be easily digitized and accessed from remote locations. Who will hold the rights? What will be "fair use" (a key concept in copyright law) of such images? Who will have to pay for what? This town meeting will explore these issues, putting a particular focus on guidelines recently drafted by the Conference on Fair Use (CONFU), which are proposed for wide endorsement by organizations and will have implications for all users, creators, and rights holders. In short, how can we all live together?

This is first in a series of town meetings made possible by a generous grant from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation.

THIS EVENT IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC -END- TOWN MEETING: FAIR USE OF DIGITAL IMAGES FEBRUARY 16, 1997, 9:30-4:30 GREAT HALL AT COOPER UNION MORNING SESSION 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

WELCOMING REMARKS:      Susan Ball, Executive Director, College Art Association

INTRODUCTION TO THE ISSUES:      Pat Williams and David Green, Moderators

LEGAL INTRODUCTION TO COPYRIGHT:      Speaker TBA

PRESENTATION OF PREDICAMENTS:

     Leila  Kinney, Art Historian, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
     Lyndel King, Director, Weisman Art Museum
     Nancy Macko, Artist, Scripps College

OUTLINE OF PROPOSED CONFU GUIDELINES FOR FAIR USE OF DIGITAL IMAGES:      Cameron Kichin, American Association of Museums

LUNCH - 12:30-1:30 p.m. (on your own)

AFTERNOON SESSION 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.

EXPLORING THE ISSUES:      Susan Ball and Pat Williams, Moderators

GENERAL ISSUES/TOPICS

     Copyright Education - Kenneth Crews, Indiana University
     Liability - Adam Eisgrau, American Library Association, 
        Digital Futures Coalition
     Artists' Rights - Ted Feder, Artists Rights Society
     Copy Photography - Macie Hall, Johns Hopkins University
     Site Licensing - Geoffrey Samuels, MLC Development

PRACTICAL USE OF WEB SITES

     Annette Weintraub, Artist, City University of New York
     Elizabeth Schmidt, Colonial Williamsburg
     Kathy Cohen, Art Historian, San Jose State University