Contact:
Tania Panczyk-Collins
202-654-4222
tpanczyk@apts.org

WASHINGTON—July 2, 2007—The Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) is pleased to announce the creation of the Digital Rights Coalition to spearhead legislative advocacy in support of changing current copyright law exemptions for public broadcasting stations. APTS President and CEO John Lawson said: “The advent of the digital age has changed the way we communicate, but outdated copyright laws have made it difficult for public service media to utilize new, digital platforms in delivering noncommercial content.”

APTS will work with Members of Congress, the Executive Branch, content creators, guilds and other key stakeholders to pursue legislation that amends the Copyright Act. “Our goal will be to update existing public service media exemptions and licenses,” Lawson said. “We will make the case that reform would allow students, educators and the American public to properly benefit from the digital revolution and enjoy much greater access to our high-quality content.”

In addition to supporting advocacy to amend the copyright laws, the Digital Rights Coalition will support the creation of the American Archive, a digital library of the audio and video collections from Public Television and Radio libraries, national institutions, local libraries, historical organizations and educational institutions. Last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee endorsed funding for the American Archive in a report accompanying the FY 2008 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies appropriations bill.

The Digital Rights Coalition is being launched with the support of Alabama Public Television (Birmingham, Ala.), Georgia Public Broadcasting (Atlanta, Ga.), Idaho Public Television (Boise, Idaho), KUEN (Salt Lake City, Utah), Oregon Public Broadcasting (Portland, Ore.), Thirteen/WNET and WLIW (New York, N.Y.), TPT (St. Paul, Minn.), WBCC (Cocoa, Fla.), WCTE (Cookeville, Tenn.), WGBH (Boston, Mass.), WGVU (Grand Rapids, Mich.), KVZK (Pago Pago, American Samoa) and WILL-TV/DT (Urbana, Ill.). While these stations are supporting the initial efforts of the Coalition, a successful campaign will benefit all Public Television stations. Other public stations and partner institutions are also expected to join in coming months.