§170 American Television and Radio Archives

Summary

Creates and runs the American Television and Radio Archives at the Library of Congress to save TV and radio programs that matter to U.S. history and culture and to let historians and scholars study them without encouraging copyright breaking. The Librarian means the Librarian of Congress. The Archives means the American Television and Radio Archives inside the Library of Congress. The Librarian must pick what to keep after talking with interested groups. The Archives can get copies by following sections 407 and 408 of title 17, by transfers from the Library’s existing collections, by gifts or exchanges, or by buying them. The Librarian must keep catalogs and let people study the material under set rules. Even though section 106 of title 17 usually limits copying, the Librarian may copy or compile regularly scheduled newscasts or on-the-spot news coverage under rules the Librarian writes. Those copies can be loaned to researchers or placed in libraries that meet section 108(a) of title 17, only for research and not for further copying or public showing. The Librarian and Library staff are not liable for others’ copyright violations unless they knowingly joined in the infringement. The law may be called the American Television and Radio Archives Act.