2025 Schedule

8:00 - 5:00pm

Bootcamp: Basic Copyright
Kyle Courtney and Sandra Enimil
Location: Chapman Foundations Recital Hall

5:30 - 7:30pm

Optional Social Hour

Location: Red Leg Brewery
2323 Garden of the Gods Rd.
Colorado Springs, CO 80917

8:00 - 9:00am

Nametag Pickup & Welcome Coffee and Light Refreshments

9:00 - 10:00am

Keynote Presentation - Chris Bourg
Imagining Library Futures in Chaotic Times

From the early days of the global Covid-19 pandemic to the most recent political, social, economic, and cultural disruptions brought about by the current federal administration, libraries and other public institutions have been in a period of continuous adaptation to seismic shifts and unprecedented change. Imagining and predicting the future of academic libraries feels especially difficult right now, when previously taken for granted norms and values have eroded, and when trust in and support for libraries has become hyper-politicized. The mounting consequences of climate change and the tectonic forces of artificial intelligence put additional pressures on libraries and higher education to adapt and change at a pace many times faster than typical academic speed. Against that backdrop of rapid and often unpredictable change, this talk will offer some speculations on how the core enduring mission and values of libraries can point us to a future where libraries become platforms for the creation, discovery, use, and dissemination of knowledge that is openly and equitably accessible.

10:00 - 11:00am

Session 1: Pia Hunter
Public Domain and the Vanishing Archive: Libraries' Role in Preserving Cultural Memory

The removal of government information and cultural memory from government websites presents a critical challenge to public access, historical accountability, and democratic transparency. This trend encompasses the deletion, alteration, or archival restriction of official records, scientific data, and culturally significant materials from federal and state-run digital platforms. Political shifts, policy changes, and technological transitions contribute to this erasure, often limiting public access to crucial information on topics such as climate change, social justice, and public health. What is being done to preserve our research and cultural memory?

11:00 - 11:15am

Morning Break

11:15am - 12:15pm

Session 2: Kenny Crews
Witness to the Copyright Explosion: From ZERO to MILLIONS in Just One Lifetime!

Copyright plays a dynamic role in the lives of millions (or even billions!) of denizens in every country of the world.  But not long ago it was dismissed as the “Cinderella” of intellectual property, rarely invited to the formal ball.  We all have heard that “technology changed everything,” and the internet somehow gets all the credit for the attention we now bestow on copyright’s strengths and conundrums.  From my own witnessing of multiple decades of work in copyright, I have seen that this internet revolution hardly tells the full story.  My presentation will be a bit personal.  I will share some events and epiphanies from my own distant past that led me to discover copyright, starting at ground zero.  I will also do my darnedest to make sense of pivots in copyright and what they might mean for all of us.

12:15 - 1:15pm

Lunch
Please join us for a catered lunch in the Ross Lobby.

1:15 - 2:00pm

Session 3: Peter Shirts, Treshani Perera, and Marliese Thomas
A Copyright Superpower for Libraries and Archives: Section 108(h) and Music

Section 108 of the US copyright code gives libraries and archives some powerful exceptions to copyright. One of the less-frequently used exceptions in section 108 is subsection (h), which gives libraries and archives the superpower to reproduce, distribute, display, or perform published works if a work is in the last 20 years of its copyright term (generally, published before 1949 with renewal), is not being commercially exploited, cannot be purchased at a reasonable price, and is used for preservation, scholarship, or research. Additionally, the 2018 Music Modernization Act extended the 108(h) exception to all pre-1972 sound recordings (published or unpublished); this is one of the few times that existing copyright exceptions have expanded with new legislation.

The lack of discussion of section 108(h) in library scholarly literature is notable. This presentation seeks to fill this gap, providing section 108’s origin story and explaining why the exception detailed in subsection (h) is currently used infrequently. We will also detail situations when libraries and archives might invoke section 108(h), including some real-world examples related to music. While we are not lawyers, we will discuss possible liability and ways to decrease the risk of lawsuits. We plan to show to attendees that invoking this little-used copyright exception could lead to greater distribution and preservation of rare materials.

2:00 - 2:45pm

Session 4: Katherine Klosak
Bridging a Gap in US Implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty

In this talk, Katherine Klosek, ARL’s Director of Information Policy and Federal Relations will describe how people with disabilities in the U.S. must navigate the uncertainties of the Section 1201 rulemaking process to circumvent TPMs and access copyrighted works, and propose legislative solutions for Congress to address this gap and fully align U.S. law with the Marrakesh Treaty’s requirements.

2:45 - 3:00pm

Afternoon Break

3:00 - 4:00pm

Session 5: AMA Panel

4:00 - 5:00pm

Session 6: Kyle Courtney
Libraries Without Permission: Defending Access in a Licensed World

Libraries shouldn't have to ask permission to serve the public. As licensing tightens its grip on collections, this talk challenges librarians and archivists to resist contractual barriers and defend the core values of access, preservation, and education. We'll move beyond Controlled Digital Lending and explore strategies for protecting the rights and exceptions libraries still have — and for pushing the boundaries of what access can mean in a digital-first era.

5:00 - 7:00pm

Conference Reception & Poster Session
(Poster Session first 45 minutes)

8:00 - 8:30am

Morning Coffee and Light Refreshments

8:30 - 9:15am

Session 7: Carla Myers
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means... Copyright myths, misnomers, and misconceptions

Copyright law permeates almost every aspect of librarianship and does much to help libraries offer a wide variety of services and resources to patrons. Unfortunately, there are many myths and misconceptions about the law that can have a chilling effect on users, arbitrarily limiting the ways academic libraries and the scholars they serve may engage with protected resources. In this presentation, we'll review some of those myths and misconceptions and explore how the law does address situations we may encounter when helping our colleagues and patrons access and engage with resources.

9:15 - 10:00am

Session 8: 45-Minute Presentation (to be announced)

10:00 - 10:15am

Morning Break

10:15 - 11:15am

Session 9: Lightning Talks

12:15 - 1:15pm

Session 10: Sandra Enimil
U.S. Copyright History (?): A Critical Review for our Shared Future

In this talk, Katherine Klosek, ARL’s Director of Information Policy and Federal Relations will describe how people with disabilities in the U.S. must navigate the uncertainties of the Section 1201 rulemaking process to circumvent TPMs and access copyrighted works, and propose legislative solutions for Congress to address this gap and fully align U.S. law with the Marrakesh Treaty’s requirements.

12:00 - 12:45pm

Session 11: Yuanxiao Xu
Fighting Against the Data Licensing Dystopia: Will Librarians Save AI Research?

AI is transforming scholarly research across disciplines. However, a significant challenge has emerged: high-quality data are being sold to major tech companies for AI training at a premium—often without author consent, and at a price point that small startups and non-profit researchers cannot afford. The end result could be a licensing dystopia that props up dominant market actors, minimizes fair use, and harms research.

This session will explore the profound impact of these licensing deals on U.S. researchers and how they threaten equitable research access. Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of the current AI copyright landscape in both the U.S. and abroad, as well as actionable insights on how librarians can intervene to support fair licensing agreements and policies that promote broader access to knowledge.

12:45 - 1:00pm

Closing Remarks