Washington DC—The Library Copyright Alliance (LCA) – comprised of the Association for Research Libraries (ARL), the American Library Association (ALA), and the Association for College & Research Libraries (ACRL) – made the following statement concerning the recent decision by Judge Chin in the proposed settlement of the Google Books lawsuit:

“The decision makes clear that copyright law continues to present significant barriers to libraries and other partners interested in engaging in mass digitization initiatives. Such initiatives provide broad, deep and important public access to cultural and historical resources to users throughout the world. The library community has always supported—and worked long and hard for—constructive and practical orphan works legislation that would benefit all stakeholders.”

To download a PDF of the statement, please visit: http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/lca_gbsstmt24mar11.pdf

To view an updated version of the “GBS March Madness: Paths Forward for the Google Books Settlement” diagram, please visit: http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/gbs-march-madness-diagram-final.pdf

For more information on the Google Books Settlement, please visit http://www.arl.org/pp/ppcopyright/google/index.shtml

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 126 research libraries in the US and Canada. Its mission is to influence the changing environment of scholarly communication and the public policies that affect research libraries and the diverse communities they serve. ARL pursues this mission by advancing the goals of its member research libraries, providing leadership in public and information policy to the scholarly and higher education communities, fostering the exchange of ideas and expertise, facilitating the emergence of new roles for research libraries, and shaping a future environment that leverages its interests with those of allied organizations. ARL is on the web at http://www.arl.org/ .

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