In joint comments filed to the FCC, APTS and PBS said the Commission’s proposed broadcast localism rules are unnecessary given Public Television stations’ current practices. Moreover, APTS and PBS said the proposed rules threaten to supplant the judgment of local stations, which are best situated to determine the most effective ways to serve their local communities.

In the joint April 28, 2008 filing, APTS and PBS argued that some of the proposed rules, including the reinstitution of the pre-1987 main studio rule, would be profoundly burdensome and actually undermine rather than enhance localism by forcing stations to scale back local services.

Public Television stations share the FCC’s conviction that broadcasters should operate their stations to serve the public interest, but the FCC should take into account the inherent localism of Public Television stations and not impose unnecessary and burdensome requirements.

Click here for the complete APTS/PBS filing
Click here for the filing exhibits

Gene Purcell Named Executive Director of Wisconsin Educational Communications Board

The Board of Directors of the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board (ECB) has named Gene Purcell as executive director of the agency.

Purcell joined the ECB as deputy director in April, 2006. He assumed the role of interim executive director in June, 2007 after Executive Director Wendy Wink left to become the Deputy Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Revenue.

Prior to joining the ECB, Purcell was the La Crosse area regional manager for Wisconsin Public Radio for 10 years. He brings more than 25 years public broadcasting experience to the position.

The ECB is the state agency responsible for ensuring that public radio and television programs and instructional technology services are made available throughout Wisconsin, and that these programs and services reflect and respond to the educational and cultural needs of the state's residents.

APTS joined Public Knowledge, the Internet Archive and the Association of Research Libraries to praise the work of Senate and House legislators for introducing legislation on April 24, 2008 that would allow for greater use of “orphan works.” Those are books, music, photos or other works for which the copyright holder can’t be found by someone who wants to use the work in a way that normally would require permission.

While there are differences between the House and Senate bills, the two pieces of legislation generally follow the Copyright Office recommendation that if a user conducts a reasonably diligent search, they are generally free from high copyright infringement damages; if an owner surfaces, they are compensated for the use of their work. The bills also promote creation of industry guidelines for conducting searches to find owners and encourage use of technology through online databases and visual recognition methods.

“This legislation is an important step forward in addressing the critical issue of how Public Television stations can use orphan works in the Digital Era,” APTS Acting President and CEO Mark Erstling said.

Click here for complete press release