Authors Alliance Urges Copyright Office To Reconsider Implementing Extended Collective Licensing Pilot

The Authors Alliance urged the U.S. Copyright Office to reconsider implementing its proposed extended collective licensing pilot program for mass digitization projects, saying in a Friday filing the current program proposal doesn't adequately address authors' interests. The pilot program proposal also doesn't consider the complexities involved in managing licenses owned by multiple copyright owners. Authors Alliance co-founder Pamela Samuelson, a University of California-Berkeley School of Law professor, separately offered alternative proposals to the CO, including having Congress adopt a permanent exemption to U.S. copyright law that would allow nonprofit libraries to digitize their collections and make those digital copies available on library premises for research purposes.