[Md-sligo] Fw: Important court hearing in New York City on Wednesday, October 30

Wed Oct 9 02:04:38 UTC 2013

If you are able to participate on October 30, let me know.

Debbie

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Melissa Ann Riccobono" <melissa at riccobono.us>
To: <mdabs at nfbnet.org>; "'NFB of Maryland Baltimore Chapter Discussion 
List'" <greater-baltimore at nfbnet.org>; "'NFB of Maryland e-mail list'" 
<nfbmd at nfbnet.org>; "'Debbie Brown'" <deborahb14 at verizon.net>
Sent: Tuesday, October 08, 2013 12:19 PM
Subject: FW: Important court hearing in New York City on Wednesday, October 
30

> Hello everyone,
> If you can attend this hearing, please let me know as soon as possible. I
> need to give Chris Danielsen information about how many people we can 
> expect
> to come from MD. This is extremely important, so please let me know if you
> can make it. Please call me at 410-235-3073, or email me at
> President at nfbmd.org
> Please do not reply to this message, as your reply will go to everyone on
> the list.
> Thank you,
> Melissa
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Danielsen, Chris [mailto:CDanielsen at nfb.org]
> Sent: Monday, October 07, 2013 3:49 PM
> To: State President, Pennsylvania; State President, Connecticut; State
> President, Delaware; State President, Maryland; State President,
> Massachusetts; State President, New Jersey; State President, New York; 
> State
> President, Pennsylvania; Office Of The President
> Cc: Jones, Mya; Pare, John
> Subject: Important court hearing in New York City on Wednesday, October 30
>
> Dear Fellow Federationists:
> I am writing to you regarding an important court hearing that will take
> place in New York City on Wednesday, October 30. The hearing, in the case 
> of
> Authors Guild, Inc., et al., v. HathiTrust, et al, concerns the issue of
> whether blind university students and others can have access to digital
> copies of works held by university libraries across the nation. An excerpt
> from Dr. Maurer's 2013 Presidential Report explaining what is at stake
> appears below. In October of 2012, the Federal District Court for the
> Southern District of New York ruled in favor of the HathiTrust and the
> National Federation of the Blind (see the press release linked below), but
> the Authors Guild is trying to reverse this ruling on appeal. We need to
> pack the courtroom on October 30 to let the Court of Appeals for the 
> Second
> Circuit know that blind Americans want access to these digital materials 
> and
> that this issue is of critical importance to us.
> The hearing will take place on October 30, at 10 a.m., in the Thurgood
> Marshall U.S. Courthouse. The address for the courthouse is 40 Foley 
> Square,
> New York, NY 10007, and the hearing will be held on the 17th Floor, in 
> Room
> 1705, and Entrance 1703. Those attending the hearing should plan to arrive
> at the courthouse at 8:30 a.m. to be assured of getting through security 
> and
> being seated in one of the fifty-six seats in the courtroom. We would like
> to fill at least fifty of those seats. Please advise me or Mya Jones, 
> copied
> on this message, as to how many people you think your affiliate can bring 
> to
> this important event by the close of business on Wednesday, October 9.
> The court will hear several cases and ours is the last scheduled, so you
> should be prepared to be in the courtroom for two to three hours. While
> court is in session, you may not leave the courtroom or otherwise disrupt
> the proceedings. Dress appropriately; business attire is recommended. You
> may be required to leave your cell phone or other items at the security
> station; if not, you should make sure that your phone is turned off
> completely during the hearing, and you must follow all instructions of 
> court
> personnel to the letter.
> Thank you in advance for making this important hearing a priority. I look
> forward to hearing from each of you soon.
> Sincerely,
> Chris Danielsen, Director of Public Relations NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE
> BLIND
>
>
>
> Additional information
> From the 2013 Presidential Report:
> The Google Books Project, which began almost ten years ago, seeks to 
> create
> digitized versions of books. It is estimated that more than ten million
> books have been digitized. The library collections from many universities
> have been scanned. The digital versions of books from this effort are 
> being
> maintained by Google, but digital copies along with the print editions 
> have
> been returned to the universities. Many of the universities have placed
> digital versions of their books into an entity named the HathiTrust, which
> is charged by the universities with the task of managing this collection.
>
> The Authors Guild sued Google and the HathiTrust demanding that the
> digitized books be destroyed. However, the potential value of this
> collection was great enough that we felt an urgent need to protect it. The
> National Federation of the Blind intervened in the lawsuit as a defendant 
> to
> assert the right of blind people to equal access to this information.
>
> Last October the federal district court in New York issued a decision in 
> our
> favor. Although this decision is currently on appeal in the 2nd Circuit 
> (an
> appeal in which we are defending our opinion vigorously), current law 
> states
> that blind students and professors at the universities holding this 
> material
> have a right to equal access to the information. Furthermore, those 
> holding
> material may distribute it to other blind people in the United States
> without violating copyright. Both we and the HathiTrust want all blind
> Americans to have equal access to this collection of material. We believe
> that we can create a mechanism to distribute the books. Blio, the 
> accessible
> book reader, manages digital content very well. When we complete the plans
> for this joint project, every blind student in the United States, every
> blind professor in the United States, and every other blind person in the
> United States will have full access to an academic library containing the
> books and reference materials of the finest academic and research
> institutions in the world.
>
> Link to press release on district court ruling:
> https://nfb.org/national-federation-blind-applauds-landmark-court-ruling
>
>
> Vehicle Donations Take the Blind Further. Donate your car to the National
> Federation of the Blind today!  For more information, please visit
> www.carshelpingtheblind.org<http://www.carshelpingtheblind.org> or call
> 1-855-659-9314
>
> Christopher S. Danielsen, J.D.
> Director of Public Relations
> National Federation of the Blind
> 200 East Wells Street
> Baltimore, MD 21230
> Office: (410) 659-9314, extension 2330
> Mobile: (410) 262-1281
> E-mail: cdanielsen at nfb.org<mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org>
> www.nfb.org
>
>
>
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>
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> 

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