Legislation Committee Annual Report 2023
submitted by Peter Shirts
Current Roster
- Kathleen DeLaurenti, co-chair (2024)
- Peter Shirts, co-chair (2026)
- Kerry Masteller (2024)
- Alyssa Nance (2024)
- Peter Routhier, Internet Archive (2025)
- Nicholle Clayton (2026)
- Greg MacAyeal (2026)
- Amy Hunsaker, Copyright Website Editor (ex officio, 2026)
- Alex Kennedy-Grant (2027)
- Sabino Fernandez (2027)
- Treshani Perera (2027)
List of Previous Goals and Progress Made
- 1. Continue to maintain awareness of relevant legislation and respond as appropriate.
- The Committee followed (and continues to follow) numerous legislative issues related to copyright, via a range of informational networks and channels, including:
- The copyright infringement lawsuit filed by member companies of the Association of American Publishers (AAP) against the Internet Archive.
- The copyright infringement lawsuit filed by RIAA against the Internet Archive.
- The growth of AI and the related emerging copyright issues.
- The Committee followed (and continues to follow) numerous legislative issues related to copyright, via a range of informational networks and channels, including:
- 2. Continue outreach, advocacy, and engagement through instruction and education initiatives related to copyright.
- Sponsored two presentations at the MLA/TLA meeting in March 2023:
- Plenary: “Restorative justice and the decolonization of Indigenous performing arts archives”
- “But I Mailed it to Myself Already: Copyright and Information Literacy for Composers and Creators”
- Sponsored two presentations at the MLA/TLA meeting in March 2023:
- 3. Proposed Workshop on Restorative justice and the decolonization of Indigenous performing arts archives to MLA’s Education Committee
- 4. Co-chairs Kathleen DeLaurenti and Peter Shirts presented “The Music Modernization Act and Libraries: New Opportunities for Music Collections” at the ALA Annual Meeting in Chicago in June 2023.
- 5. Members Amy Hunsaker and Kathleen DeLaurenti wrote a blog post about the Copyright Claims Board for the MLA Copyright site.
- 6. Exploring the possibility of restarting the Historical Recording Coalition for Access and Preservation (HRCAP), which first began in 2008 to lobby for changes in copyright law but has not had much activity following the passage of the MMA.
- 7. Continued to send out information on legislation and copyright through MLA-L and continued to refine and update the MLA Copyright website.
- Goals 1-7 align with the MLA Strategic Plan under Goal 1: Continue to maintain awareness of relevant legislation and respond as appropriate.
- 8. MLA/TLA Plenary session “Restorative justice and the decolonization of Indigenous performing arts archives” presented a DEI topic.
- 9. ALA session “The Music Modernization Act and Libraries: New Opportunities for Music Collections” had a major section related to DEI.
- Goals 8-9 align with the MLA Strategic Plan under Goal 3: Identifying opportunities to align programming submissions with DEI efforts in MLA and libraries and intellectual property more broadly.
- 10. Regularly updating the listserv and social media communities about new initiatives, particularly opportunities related to education and policy advocacy work (Copyright Office events, Library Futures work, responses to the OSTP memo, etc)
- 11. Develop and disseminate the Model Agreement for Digital Scores to provide community members with an understanding of the issues around digital score collection development, copyright, and licensing.
- Goals 10-11 align with the MLA Strategic Plan under Goal 4: Identify and publicize opportunities to provide more specific structural copyright support to MLA members and their constituents, including in regards to initiatives relating to Open Access.
List of Future Goals
- 1. Continue to maintain awareness of relevant legislation and respond as appropriate.
- Aligns with Goal 1.3 “Cultivate mutually beneficial relationships with other organizations” and Goal 2.6 “Promote MLA and advocate for our profession.”
- Continue to read articles and new stories, and attend webinars, conferences, and committees in sister organizations related to music-related legislation.
- 2. Continue outreach, advocacy, and engagement through instruction and education initiatives related to copyright.
- Aligns with Goal 4 “Strengthen Communication,” Goal 2.6 “Promote MLA and advocate for our profession,” and Goal 1.4 “Review MLA’s publications for support of strategy.”
- 3. Identify and publicize opportunities to provide more specific structural copyright support to MLA members and their constituents, including in regards to initiatives relating to Open Access.
- Aligns with Goal 1.6 “Shift MLA’s publishing towards open access”