Public Service in the Digital Age

The APTS Digital Rights Coalition was created July 1, 2007 to address the limits current copyright law places on Public Television stations that wish to take advantage of new media platforms.

Recognizing the enormous educational benefits of public broadcasting, Congress in 1976 enacted specific provisions to reduce the costs associated with using copyrighted works in public broadcasting programming. But those exemptions were crafted at a time when over-the-air broadcasting was the primary method of delivery for television stations.

In recent years, however, technological developments have greatly expanded the range of delivery platforms available to consumers. As a result, Public Television stations must now engage in the time-consuming and expensive process of negotiating directly with copyright holders for rights when certain digital transmissions are implicated.

In order for Public Television to stay relevant in an age where consumers and educators alike are increasingly turning to the Internet to satisfy their media content needs, the nation’s intellectual property laws must be updated.

APTS is working closely with Coalition members to create a legislative proposal with which to approach Capitol Hill in the 110th Congress. The Coalition will also support existing copyright legislation that will benefit Public Television.

Additionally, the Coalition will support the creation of the American Archive, a digital collection of Public Broadcasting content from the past half century. Without being digitized and properly preserved, much of this analog content could be lost forever. The American Archive will also serve as a “living archive”, encompassing new, digitally-created content, which similarly is in danger of being lost. APTS hopes to work with other industry partners to make this rich archive of content available to the American public. But issues surrounding the rights to this content must be addressed.

For more information about the Digital Rights Coalition, please contact:

Lonna Thompson
202.654.4215
lonna@apts.org