Advocacy & Public Policy Committee News, November 2022

Advocacy & Public Policy Committee News Alerts support the committee's mission to monitor governmental activities and social justice issues affecting the professional interests of ARLIS/NA and to keep the ARLIS/NA membership informed. The monthly alerts are intended to be conversation starters, help members keep up on public policy issues and alert members to new developments. The articles compiled in the News Alerts bring to the forefront recent news from a range of perspectives designed to elicit discussion; they are not compiled to represent the views of ARLIS as an organization or the members of the Advocacy and Public Policy Committee.

Previous issues can be found here: https://www.arlisna.org/news/appc-news-alert

Activism and Social Justice in the Arts

• “Climate Activists Throw Maple Syrup on Painting at Vancouver Art Gallery.” Galleries West. November 13, 2022.
• Liu, Jasmine. “Remembering the Migrant Workers Who Died in Qatar.” Hyperallergic. November 22, 2022.
• Lufkin, Martha “Canada’s Museums Urged to Overhaul Practices to Empower Indigenous Peoples.” The Art Newspaper, November 25, 2022.
• Nair, Shreejaya. “Activists in India and Africa Are Leading the Global Push to Repatriate Looted Artifacts.” ARTnews. November 16, 2022.
• Nayyar, Rhea. “African Artists Face “Troubling” Restrictions on Creative Freedom.” Hyperallergic. November 22, 2022. 
• Solomon, Tessa. “Auction of Pre-Columbian Artifacts Begins in Paris Despite Pressure from Mexico.” ARTnews. November 22, 2022.
• Velie, Elaine. “How Blank White Paper Became a Symbol of Dissent in China.” Hyperallergic. November 28, 2022.
• Velie, Elaine. “Iranian Artists Decry “Lack of Action” in SFMOMA Protest.” Hyperallergic. November 21, 2022.
• Velie, Elaine. “It Took Three Hours to Unglue Protesters From Van Gogh Frame.” Hyperallergic. November 23, 2022.

Copyright and Licensing

• Butterick, Matthew. “We’ve filed a law­suit chal­leng­ing GitHub Copi­lot, an AI prod­uct that relies on unprece­dented open-source soft­ware piracy. Because AI needs to be fair & eth­i­cal for every­one.” GitHub Copilot Litigation. November 3, 2022.
• “Position Paper: Artificial Intelligence.” Copyright Alliance. November 21, 2022.
• “CC’s Engagement on the EU Data Act.” Creative Commons. November 21, 2022.
• “Experts Weigh In: AI Inputs, AI Outputs and the Public Commons.” Creative Commons. December 2, 2022.
• Druckman, Howard. "Canada extends term of copyright to Life of Author Plus 70 Years.” W&M. November 30, 2022.
• Fei, Yue, et al. “20 More Years of Copyright Protection Starting December 30, 2022.” McMillan.ca. November 30, 2022.
• Kennedy, Sean. “UNLV Libraries Designated as U.S. Patent and Trademark Resource Center.” UNLV. November 16, 2022.
• “McMillan’s Copyright Win for Music Streaming Client Selected as a Top 10 Judgment by Lexpert.” McMillan. November 23, 2022.
• United States Attorney’s Office. “Two Russian Nationals Charged with Running Massive E-Book Piracy Website.” Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office. November 16, 2022.
• U.S. Copyright Office. “Copyright Office and USPTO Announce NFT Study and Roundtables.” NewsNet, Issue 988. November 22, 2022.
• University of Texas at San Antonio. “UTSA Libraries part of historic deal that will save Texas universities millions.” UTSA Today, November 30, 2022.

Funding

• Donegan, John. “Kern supervisors confirm state funds to improve libraries.” Bakersfield.com. November 29, 2022.
• Cascone, Sarah. “Artist Paul Rucker Has Received $2 Million in Grants to Open a Permanent Museum About the History of Racism in the U.S.” Artnet News, November 15, 2022.
• Greenberger, Alex. “Sweden’s State-Run Museums to Stop Offering Free Admission Following New Government Budget.” ARTnews, November 11, 2022.
• Kransz, Michael. “$100K donation to West Michigan library beset by book challenges pushes back tentative closing date.” M Live. December 1, 2022.
• Negley, Erin. “Akron residents 'outraged and angered' over cuts to Ephrata Public Library at borough council meeting.” Lancaster Online. November 29, 2022.
• O’Daniel, Diamon. “Several grants provided to West Tennessee libraries.” WBBJ TV. December 1, 2022.
• Simpson, Teresa. “Whitman County Libraries receive $500,000 grant.” Whitman County Gazette. December 1, 2022.
• Villa, Angelica. “London Art Spaces Lose Large Amounts of State Funding in New Arts Council of England Plan.” ARTnews, November 7, 2022.

Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA)

• Bledsoe, Kara, Danielle Miriam Cooper, Roger C. Schonfeld, and Oya Y. Rieger. “Leading by Diversifying Collections.” Ithaka S+R. Accessed November 29, 2022. 
• Bright, Kawanna. “The Value of a DEI Audit.” American Libraries Magazine, November 1, 2022.
• Casper, Rob. “An Important Honor for Joy Harjo and ‘Living Nations, Living Words.’” From the Catbird Seat: Poetry & Literature at the Library of Congress, November 9, 2022. 
• Dunlap, Charles. “Daniel Boone Library Employee Union Calls on Public to Oppose Book Challenge Rule Change.” Columbia Daily Tribune, November 15, 2022. 
• French, Ron. “After LGBT book spat, Michigan family gives $100K to library they haven’t seen.”  Bridge Michigan. November 30, 2022.
• Jacobson, Emily, Jennifer Gibson, and Megan Phifer-Davis. “Reference Behind Bars | Providing Service to the Incarcerated.” Library Journal, November 29, 2022. 
• Solomon, Tessa. “U.S. Museums Have ‘Moderately’ Increased Diversity Among Staff, According to Two New Studies.” ARTnews, November 16, 2022.
  

Intellectual Freedom / Access to Information

• Agresta, Michael. “The Year We Banned Books.” Texas Monthly. November 23, 2022.
• Colbert, Ethan. “Library trustees take no stance on Ashcroft's proposed rules for libraries.” Emissiourian.com. November 29, 2022.
• Chute, Hillary. “Why ‘Maus’ Was Banned, and Why It Matters Today.” The Atlantic, November 21, 2022.
• Creeley, Will, and Adam Steinbaugh. “Show-Me State Censorship: Proposed New Rule Threatens Missouri’s Public Libraries." The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, November 23, 2022.
• "First Person" podcast: "A Small-Town Librarian Spoke Against Censorship. Then the Dark Money Came for Her.” The New York Times, November 17, 2022.
• Freedman, Samuel G. “Silent Censorship of Books Is an Attack on Knowledge and Open Discourse,” Chicago Sun-Times, November 25, 2022.
• Howerton, Matt. “Frisco ISD board votes to remove books from libraries for the first time following state lawmaker's requests.” WFAA. November 30, 2022.
• Jensen, Kelly. “Book Ratings Systems Are Not a Solution: Book Censorship News, November 25, 2022.” BOOK RIOT, November 25, 2022.
• PEN America. “PEN America Urges NO Vote By Greenville, S.C. County Council on Vaguely-Worded Resolution to Censor Childrens’ Books in Libraries.” November 1, 2022.
• Woodcock, Claire. “It Only Takes One Parent to Get All The Graphic Novels Removed From a School Library.” Vice, November 23, 2022.

Technology and Digital Privacy

• Abrams, Lawrence. “5.4 Million Twitter Users’ Stolen Data Leaked Online — More Shared Privately.” BleepingComputer, November 27, 2022. 
• “DeviantArt Announces New Artist Protection To Help Stop AI Scraping.” ARS Analytics. November 11, 2022.
• Chayka, Kyle. “What Fleeing Twitter Users Will—and Won’t—Find on Mastodon.” The New Yorker, November 22, 2022. 
• Elliott, Vittoria. “Twitter’s Moderation System Is in Tatters.” Wired, November 17, 2022.
• Gilbert, David. “Elon Musk Is Turning Twitter Into a Haven for Nazis.” Vice, November 29, 2022. 
• Price, Gary. “FCC Releases Draft of New National Broadband Maps and Begins Public Challenge Processes.” Library Journal InfoDOCKET, November 18, 2022. 
• Rajalakshmi, Niranjana. “Z-Library Was a Lifeline for Students on Shoestring Budgets.” Slate, November 15, 2022. 
• Small, Zachary. “Even as NFTs Plummet, Digital Artists Find Museums Are Calling.” The New York Times, October 31, 2022.
• Upshall, Michael. “An AI Toolkit for Libraries.” Insights. UKSG in association with Ubiquity Press, November 1, 2022.
• Woodcock, Claire. “‘Shadow Libraries’ Are Moving Their Pirated Books to The Dark Web After Fed Crackdowns.” Vice.com. November 30, 2022.
• Woodcock, Claire. “Libraries Are Launching Their Own Local Music Streaming Platforms.” Vice.com. November 14, 2022.

Workplace

• Kelly, Liam. “‘No Contract, No Matisse’: Philadelphia Museum of Art Workers Win First Contract After Strike.” Labor Notes, November 17, 2022.
• Ho, Karen K. “National Gallery of Canada Fires Four Senior Staff in Sudden Restructuring.” ARTnews, November 19, 2022.
• Liu, Jasmine. “Guaranteed Income Program for Artists Kicks Off in NY.” Hyperallergic. November 17, 2022.
• Solomon, Tessa. “Adjunct Faculty at the New School Enter Second Week of Strike as Contract Negotiations Stall.” ARTnews, November 21, 2022.
• Taylor, Vanessa. “Philadelphia Museum of Art Workers Hope Their Strike Victory Can Inspire Others.” PRISM, November 16, 2022.
• Villa, Angelica. “Storm King Workers Push to Unionize Amid Art Center’s $45 M. Revamp.” ARTnews, November 18, 2022.

Miscellaneous

• “Helena Bonham Carter becomes London Library's first female president.” BBC News. November 16, 2022. 
• Borrelli-Persson, Laird. “The Opening of the International Library of Fashion Research Makes Oslo a Destination for the Style Set.” Vogue. December 1, 2022.
• Ho, Karen K. “Growing Claims from Climate Change Will Prompt Art Insurance Rate Increases, Experts Report.” ARTnews, November 30, 2022.
• Nayyar, Rhea. “2022 Venice Biennale Breaks Attendance Records.” Hyperallergic. November 28, 2022.
• Solomon, Tessa. “The Warhol Museum Has Discovered and Digitized Rare Master Tracks of the Velvet Underground’s Seminal Debut Album.” ARTnews, November 10, 2022. 
• Villa, Angelica. “Critics Raise Alarm Over Forthcoming Berlin Modern Art Museum’s Environmental Costs.” ARTnews, November 28, 2022. 
• Villa, Angelica. “Warhol Archive Amassed by Pioneering Dealer Donated to Artist’s Foundation.” ARTnews, November 9, 2022.

This issue of News Alerts was compiled by Freyja Catton, Carrie Evans, Sal Hamerman, Kate Marcus, and Petra Warren.