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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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