On May 18, 2023, the American University Washington College of Law Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (PIJIP), the American Library Association, and the Association of Research Libraries hosted a User Rights Symposium on “Protecting Copyright User Rights from Contractual Override.” This event brought together librarians, legal scholars, researchers, and others to examine how licensing agreements and terms of service can limit rights granted under copyright law.
A recent paper published by Sara R. Benson, Marjory Blumenthal, and Katherine Klosek provides a summary of this symposium, outlining the key discussions that occurred. The event was organized into four panels: “ How Do Contracts Purport to Override User Rights?”, “Legislative Protections Enacted Overseas”, “Possible Protections in the United States”, and “Possible Protections in Other Jurisdictions.” These panels explored how contract terms can restrict fair use, involved real-world examples of how these licenses affect user rights, analyzed relevant legal cases, and proposed potential ways to protect user rights in the future.
Noting the increasing prevalence of restrictive license agreements, the lack of bargaining power faced by many institutions, and the need for greater awareness about these issues – the paper also includes the calls for legislative action, user-friendly judicial interpretations, and improved contract terms that were made at the symposium. This summary serves as a valuable record of the symposium, and can help provide context to those seeking to understand user rights at the intersection of copyright and contract law.
Article abstract:
In this paper, Benson, Blumenthal, and Klosek summarize the proceedings of the public symposium on the “Protection of Copyright User Rights from Contractual Override.” The American Library Association (ALA) and the Association of Research Libraries (ARL)—together, the Library Copyright Alliance (LCA)—sponsored the symposium in partnership with the American University Washington College of Law Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (PIJIP). The paper includes summaries of each panel, questions that were discussed, and takeaways for the library community to consider.
Article link:
https://journals.ku.edu/jcel/article/view/20856
User Rights Network Symposium: Protecting Copyright User Rights from Contractual Override event link:
