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(FWD) NCC Washington Update, Vol. 7, #27, June 29, 2001



NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 7, #27, June 29, 2001
by Bruce Craig <rbcraig3@juno.com> of  the National Coordinating Committee 
for the Promotion of History
*****************

1.  Supreme Court Decides Tasini Case
2.  Peer Reviewers Needed For Teaching American History Grants
3.  Senate Interior Appropriations Committee Marks-up Bill-Increases for 
Endowments
4.  Antiquities Act Modification Legislation Introduced
5.  Legislation Passed: Juneteenth Independence Day
6.  Smithsonian Regents Endorse New Museum
7.  News Bits and Bytes: Indian Museum Welcome Center Opens; FirstGov Portal; 
Devine to Head Truman Library

1.  SUPREME COURT DECIDES TASINI CASE
On June 26, 2001, the United States Supreme Court ruled 7 to 2 in favor of 
freelance authors and artists who had petitioned for the right to control 
electronic reproduction of articles. The case, New York Times Co. v. Tasini, 
began back in 1993 and pitted media giants like the Times, Sports Illustrated 
and Newsday against six freelance authors who claimed the publishers had 
infringed on their copyrights by entering into agreements with two computer 
database companies to place their  articles into three separate databases.  
The decision is a major pronouncement on issues relating to copyright law in 
the digital age.

The case came to the Supreme Court after a series of lower court decisions 
had found first for the publishers, then, on appeal, for the writers, then 
again for the publishers at which time the writers appealed to the Supreme 
Court.  Attorneys for the National Writers Union led by President Jonathan 
Tasini and the six freelance authors argued that "The collective work 
copyright holder cannot exploit an article on a separate article -by article 
basis."  The high court did not rule on a remedy for the infringement 
violations but returned the case to a Federal District Court in Manhattan to 
address a number of unresolved issues that were not part of the case.  It may 
take months if not years to resolve some of these issues, the most important 
being what should be the statute of limitations for this form of copyright 
infringement?

Nevertheless, the decision leaves publishers little choice but to remove tens 
of thousands of articles from online databases or face immense exposure to 
copyright infringement claims.  The New York Times, for example, has 
announced that it will remove 115,000 articles written by 27,000 freelancers 
from its database.  In addition, the ruling will present libraries with 
significant challenges because of the possibility for incomplete archival 
databases.

The Association of Research Libraries and the American Library Association 
commended the high court's decision because the ruling also recognizes that 
certain archival media, such as microfilm and microfiche, do not infringe on 
author's copyrights.  According to Prudence Adler, Associate Executive 
Director of the ALA, "the historical record will continue to be available to 
researchers and the public."

The decision is limited in scope and involves only articles written before 
1993, when most publishers changed their standard agreements with authors to 
take into account rights to electronic reproduction. The Supreme Court's 
decision can be viewed online at: 
<http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/opinions.html>.

2. PEER REVIEWERS NEEDED FOR TEACHING AMERICAN HISTORY GRANTS
The Department of Education (DOE) reports that they are in need of 
reviewer/readers for the Teaching American History peer review process. All 
that is needed from a prospective reader is a copy of his/her resume and a 
Social Security number.  The DOE is looking for people from many different 
fields, including elementary and secondary teachers (history and/or social 
studies), college professors (both from the History and Education 
departments), museum experts, and professionals associated with history and 
humanities organizations. The Department anticipates receiving approximately 
500 applications under the "Teaching American History" competition. Based on 
this estimate, DOE is looking to recruit 100-150 reviewers to read and score 
12-15 applications each during the week of August 13 in Washington, DC. The 
peer reviewer role is a crucial part of the grant making process. The DOE 
relies on the recommendations and scores of peer reviewers in deciding which 
applications to fund. Additionally, the Department relies on reviewers to 
provide constructive feedback and comments to aid unsuccessful applicants in 
identifying how their application could be strengthened for the future. To 
qualify a peer reviewer must meet the following common guidelines:
Possess expertise in history or history education, professional development, 
model development, evaluation, and/or education partnerships; possess an 
ability to objectively review and thoroughly document the strengths and 
weaknesses of applications; possess a willingness to work effectively in 
groups; have a commitment to ensuring the confidentiality of applications; 
have an interest in the mission of the Department of Education; have no 
conflict of interest - the reader may not be listed as a paid staff member on 
any application received under this competition; and, be available to work 
full-time as a reader during the period Aug 13-17.

Those who meet all of the above criteria and are interested in serving as a 
peer reviewer, please e-mail a copy of a current résumé, including your 
social security number, by July 6, 2001 to:
Teaching American History Grant Program
Attention: Christine Miller
e-mail: TeachingAmericanHistory@ed.gov

Individuals selected as peer reviewers will receive a $500.00 honorarium. 
Additionally, all travel and expenses (e.g. airfare, lodging, per diem) will 
be paid for, or reimbursed by, the U.S. Department of Education. The DOE will 
notify potential reviewers of their status as soon as possible and will 
notify all potential reviewers by mid-July, when the DOE is expected to have 
a better estimate of the number of applications that will be reviewed.

3.  SENATE INTERIOR APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE MARKS UP BILL-INCREASES FOR
ENDOWMENTS
On June 28, 2001, the Senate Appropriations Committee marked up the FY-02 
Interior Appropriations bill (H.R. 2217) and pledged to move the measure to 
the full Senate floor just after the July 4 recess.

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) received an increase of $2 
million over the House increase of $3 million voted last week, thereby 
bringing the NEH budget line to $125.5 million.  The $5 million total 
increase would be allocated as follows:
      *Federal/state partnership      $1.5 million
      *Preservation                             $ .5 million
      *Public Programs                     $1.0 million
      *Research                                 $1.0 million
      *Education                                 $1.0 million
The $10 million increase provided by the House for the National Endowment for 
the Arts (NEA) as well as the $2 million increase for the IMLS (a total of 
$26.9 million) were both left undisturbed, meaning that these items will not 
be conferenceable and therefore not vulnerable to further attempts by House 
conservatives to reduce funding for these entities.

The Historic Preservation Fund, however, lost ground: $39 million for the 
States ($7.4 million below this years funding level), $3 million for tribal 
governments ($2 million less that this year's funding level), $30 million for 
the Save America's Treasures initiative, and $2 million for the National 
Trust for Historic Preservation's Sites Fund.

4.  ANTIQUITIES ACT MODIFICATION LEGISLATION  INTRODUCED
Legislation has been introduced (H.R. 2114) in the House of Representatives 
by Rep. Michael K. Simpson (R- ID) to amend the Antiquities Act as it applies 
to the establishment of national monuments and to mandate public 
participation in the proclamation process.  The bill, titled the "National 
Monument Fairness Act of  2001," seeks to mandate written comment by 
governors of states prior to monument establishment if the President seeks to 
add more than 50,000 acres to an existing national monument.  The legislation 
also states that a monument proclamation shall cease to exist if Congress has 
not approved the proclamation within two years. The legislation that is 
expected to face stiff opposition was referred to the House Committee on 
Resources.

5.  LEGISLATION PASSED: JUNETEENTH INDEPENDENCE DAY
On June 19, 2001, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a concurrent 
resolution (H. Con. Res. 163) and referred it to the Senate for action that 
recognizes the historical importance of Juneteenth Independence Day.  The 
resolution recognizes Juneteenth (June 19) as the traditional day to 
celebrate the end of slavery in the United States and that "the celebration 
of the end of slavery is an important and enriching part of the history and 
heritage of the United States." The resolution also stresses the importance 
of history in general. The resolution states that "it is the sense of 
Congress that history be regarded as a means for understanding the past and 
solving the challenges of the future."

Juneteenth has its origins on June 19, 1865, when U.S. General Gordon Granger 
rode into Galveston, Texas and announced that the Civil War was over and that 
the state's 200,000 slaves were free. Vowing never to forget the date, the 
former slaves coined the nickname "Juneteenth" (a blend of the words "June" 
and "nineteenth").  While the holiday began in the American Southwest, today 
is celebrated throughout the nation. 

6.  SMITHSONIAN REGENTS ENDORSE NEW MUSEUM
On June 25, 2001, the Smithsonian Board of Regents endorsed the establishment 
of a National Museum of American-American History and Culture on the Mall in 
Washington D.C. At the same time, however, the Regents passed a resolution 
requesting Congressional sponsors of legislation (H.R. 1718) designed to 
establish the museum, to ensure that the Smithsonian will control the museum 
and that adequate funding will be provided.

Legislation, introduced by Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) on May 3, 2001, now has 
over 140 co-sponsors.  If the sponsors get enough Congressional co-sponsors, 
the bill may not need to go to hearing but will be brought directly to the 
floor - perhaps in July.  The legislation states that the museum is "to 
provide for the collection, study, and creation of scholarship relating to 
the African-American diaspora that encompasses slavery, the era of 
reconstruction, the Harlem renaissance, the civil rights movement and beyond."

The idea for a African-American museum goes back at least to 1986 when 
Congress first acted on similar legislation. At that time, separate bills 
passed both the House and Senate but differences in the respective bills were 
never reconciled, hence the legislation failed to be enacted. In 1991, the 
Regents first gave their full endorsement to the establishment of such a 
museum on the Mall, and in 1994, legislation passed key House and Senate 
committees but was blocked by the opposition of Jesse Helms (R-N.C.). 
Opponents of the bill argue that if there is a need for an African American 
museum, "why not for Hispanics, Asians and on ad infinitum?"

Individuals who wish to urge their representatives to become co-sponsors of 
H.R. 1718 or who wish to communicate their views on the proposed museum with 
their Congressional representatives are urged to call the Capitol switchboard 
and contact their members of Congress at (202) 224-3121.

7.  BITS AND BYTES:
Item #1- Welcome Center Opens:   On June 26, 2001, the National Museum of the 
American Indian opened its welcome center housed in a trailer at Independence 
Avenue and Fourth Street SW in Washington D.C.  Showcased at the welcome 
center are models of the future museum that is expected to open in the summer 
of 2004. The museum is expected to cost $219 million of which the Smithsonian 
still needs to raise about $70 million.

Item #2 - FirstGov Portal:   FirstGov, the government's portal to its Web 
sites, has official expanded its search engine to include sites from all 50 
states and Washington D.C. The sites newly designed search engine can find 
documents from over 47 million web pages in less than a second, and thus, 
according to Steve Perry, administrator of the General Services 
Administration, give researchers " a new ability to quickly and easily 
access" information. To access FirstGov tap into: <http://www.Firstgov.gov/>

Item #3 - Devine to Head Truman Library:   Dr. Michael Devine, currently 
Professor of History at the University of Wyoming, has been selected as the 
new director of the Harry Truman Library in Independence, MO. Previously, 
Devine served as director of the American Heritage Center (1991-2000) where 
he oversaw the construction of a $20 million, 135,000 square foot facility on 
the University of Wyoming campus.  He possesses a PhD from Ohio State 
University and has published widely on subjects ranging from American foreign 
policy to the history of the West. Devine will assume his new post in 
September, 2001.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  * * * *
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