Welcome

The Library Copyright Alliance (LCA) consists of five major library associations - the American Association of Law Libraries, the American Library Association, the Association of Research Libraries, the Medical Library Association, and the Special Libraries Association. These five associations collectively represent over 80,000 information professionals and thousands of libraries of all kinds throughout the United States. These five associations cooperate in the LCA to address copyright issues that affect libraries and their patrons. For over ten years now, our five library associations have worked together as a coalition.

The purpose of the LCA is to work toward a unified voice and common strategy for the library community in responding to and developing proposals to amend national and international copyright law and policy for the digital environment. The LCA's mission is to foster global access and fair use of information for creativity, research, and education.

Copyright and related intellectual property laws have important and substantial effects on the nature and extent of information services libraries provide to their users. Intellectual property laws are currently undergoing major changes in response to the growth in the use of digital formats for works.

The LCA is principally concerned that these changes do not harm, but rather enhance, the ability of libraries and information professionals to serve the needs of people to access, use, and preserve digital information. Our concern in heightened because of emerging technology applied to copyrighted works that is intended to prohibit access, use and preservation of digital information.

The American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) is a nonprofit educational organization with over 5,000 members nationwide. AALL's mission is to promote and enhance the value of law libraries to the legal and public communities, to foster the profession of law librarianship, and to provide leadership in the field of legal information and information policy. http://www.aall.org/
Contact: Mary Alice Baish (202-662-9200)

The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit educational organization of over 65,000 librarians, library trustees, and other friends of libraries dedicated to improving library services and promoting the public interest in a free and open information society. http://www.ala.org/
Contact: Lynne Bradley (202-628-8410)

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 123 research libraries in North America. ARL’s members include university libraries, public libraries, government and national libraries. ARL influences the changing environment of scholarly communication and the public policies that affect research libraries and the diverse communities they serve. ARL pursues this mission by advancing the goals of its member research libraries, providing leadership in public and information policy to the scholarly and higher education communities, fostering the exchange of ideas and expertise, and shaping a future environment that leverages its interests with those of allied organizations. http://www.arl.org/
Contact: Prudence S. Adler (202-296-2296)

The Medical Library Association (MLA), a nonprofit, educational organization, is a leading advocate for health sciences information professionals with more than 4,700 members worldwide. Through its programs and services, MLA provides lifelong educational opportunities, supports a knowledgebase of health information research, and works with a global network of partners to promote the importance of quality information for improved health to the health care community and the public. http://www.mlanet.org/
Contact: Carla Funk (312-419-9094 x.14)

The Special Libraries Association (SLA) is a nonprofit global organization for innovative information professionals and their strategic partners. SLA serves more than 12,000 members in 83 countries in the information profession, including corporate, academic and government information specialists. SLA promotes and strengthens its members through learning, advocacy and networking initiatives. http://www.sla.org/
Contact: Doug Newcomb (703-647-4923)