Advocacy & Public Policy Committee News v. 11 n. 8, August 2025

Advocacy & Public Policy Committee News 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 

Art & Activism

• Nelson, George. “Greenpeace Unfurls Anish Kapoor’s Bloody ‘Butchered’ Work Across North Sea Gas Rig.” ARTnews, August 18, 2025. 

• Pontone, Maya. “Activists Denounce Plans to Reinstall Confederate Statue in DC.” Hyperallergic, August 5, 2025.

• Pontone, Maya. “Erasure of Rainbow Memorial for Pulse Shooting Victims Raises Alarm in Florida.” Hyperallergic, August 22, 2025.

• Vartanian, Hrag. “Why Did Eco-Activists Get Years in Prison for Only $588 in Damages?” Hyperallergic, August 25, 2025. 

Copyright & Licensing; Open Access

• Belanger, Ashley. “AI Industry Horrified to Face Largest Copyright Class Action Ever Certified.” Ars Technica, August 8, 2025. 

• Brittain, Blake. “Anthropic Settles Class Action from US Authors Alleging Copyright Infringement.” Reuters, August 26, 2025. 

• Kinsella, Eileen. “Midjourney Fires Back in Copyright Clash With Disney and Universal.” Artnet News, August 8, 2025. 

• Maddaus, Gene. “Netflix and Adam McKay Win Dismissal of Second ‘Don’t Look Up’ Copyright Suit.” Variety, August 19, 2025.

• Nawotka, Ed. “Canadian Author Sues Four AI Companies for Copyright Infringement.” Publisher’s Weekly, August 4, 2025.

• Noble, Tori. “Victory! Ninth Circuit Limits Intrusive DMCA Subpoenas.” Electronic Frontier Foundation, August 18, 2025.

Funding

• Advocacy Alert. “August Advocacy Alert: Take Action to Support IMLS, NEA, and NEH, and other updates.” American Alliance of Museums, August 8, 2025.

• Amaechi, Zara. “African American Museum in Dallas gets $3 million to digitize its 50-year-old collection.” KERA, August 26, 2025.

• Couloumbis, Angela and Katie Meyer. “Belt tightening is underway for libraries, foster care, and more as Pa. budget sits unfinished.” Spotlight PA, August 20, 2025.

• Lawson-Tancred, Jo. “Van Gogh Museum Battles Dutch State Over $121 Million Funding Deal.” Artnet News, August 27, 2025.

• Small, Zachary. “$5,000-Per-Plate Dinner Tests Museum Ban on Political Fund-Raisers.” The New York Times, August 15, 2025. [paywall]

Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access (IDEA)

• Coleman-Robinson, Vedet. “First They Came for Black History.” Hyperallergic, August 20, 2025. 

• Halperin, Julia. “Comment | US Museums Are Finally Going Bilingual: Here’s Why It Matters.” The Art Newspaper, August 12, 2025.

• Halperin, Julia, and Melody Melamed. “What Disability Art Means Now.” The New York Times, August 27, 2025. [paywall]

• Krashinsky Robertson, Susan. “First Nations groups raise questions about lack of consultation before sale of 1670 Hudson’s Bay Company charter.” The Globe and Mail, August 9, 2025. [paywall]

• Miranda, Carolina A. “Museum’s Update Sends a Message: Native Artists Are Still Here.” The New York Times, August 25, 2025. [paywall]

• News Desk. “Studio Museum in Harlem Announces Opening Date.” Artforum, August 6, 2025. 

• Staff. “IAIA to Receive Coe Center Campus and Collection in Landmark Gift.” Native News Online, August 20, 2025.

Intellectual Freedom/Access to Information

• Alajaji, Rindala, and Jason Kelley. “From Book Bans to Internet Bans: Wyoming Lets Parents Control the Whole State’s Access to The Internet.” Electronic Frontier Foundation, August 18, 2025.

• Asch, Sarah. “Bookshelves to Bylines: When Libraries and Journalists Join Forces.” Library Journal, August 4, 2025.

• Cascone, Sarah. “Artists and Organizations Rally Against Censorship in Open Letter.” Artnet News, August 26, 2025.

• Peet, Lisa. “Victory for Freedom to Read in Penguin Random House v. Gibson.” Library Journal, August 25, 2025.

• Schwalbe, Michael. “Censorship at UNC Threatens Academic Freedom” NC Newsline, August 28, 2025

• Wiechnik, David. “EXCLUSIVE: Alberta grants ministries more power to reject access-to-information requests.” Western Standard, August 27, 2025.

Technology and Digital Privacy

• Cunningham, Andrew. “GitHub will be folded into Microsoft proper as CEO steps down.” Ars Technica, August 11, 2025.

• Edwards, Benj. “Anthropic’s auto-clicking AI Chrome extension raises browser-hijacking concerns.” Ars Technica, August 27, 2025.

• Jibin, Joseph. “Supreme Court Lets Mississippi Age-Verification Law Go Into Effect (For Now).” PCMag, August 15, 2025.

• Peters, Jay. “Reddit Will Block the Internet Archive.” The Verge, August 11, 2025.

• Shemtov, Noam, Jennifer Pinsof, and Jennifer Lynch. “Fourth Amendment Victory: Michigan Supreme Court Reins in Digital Device Fishing Expeditions.” Electronic Frontier Foundation, August 22, 2025.

• Veltman, Chloe. “Boston Public Library aims to increase access to a vast historic archive using AI.” NPR, August 11, 2025.

• Voelker, Carolin. “Libby's library app adds an AI discovery feature, and not everyone is thrilled.” TechCrunch, August 26, 2025.

• Whitwam, Ryan. “YouTube secretly tested AI video enhancement without notifying creators.” Ars Technica, August 25, 2025.

• Whitwam, Ryan. “Google Gemini will now learn from your chats—unless you tell it not to.” Ars Technica, August 13, 2025.

Workplace

• Hullinger, Logan. “Enoch Pratt Library Union Ratifies First-Ever Contract after Two Years of Negotiations.” Baltimore Beat, August 5, 2025. 

• IFLA. “Time to Stop the Undermining of Library Rights: IFLA Statement on Contract Override.” August 28, 2025.

• Pontone, Maya. “School of Visual Arts Quietly Lays Off Staff.” Hyperallergic, August 15, 2025. 

• Zulhusni, Muhammad. “Unions and States Push Back against AI in the Workplace.” TechHQ, August 25, 2025. 

Miscellaneous

• American Historical Association. “AHA Publishes Guiding Principles for Artificial Intelligence in History Education.” AHA News & Announcements, August 5, 2025.

• Peet, Lisa. “ALA Sends Delegation to UN Forum on Sustainable Development.” Library Journal, August 1, 2025.

Special News Alert: 47th Presidential Administration and Cultural Heritage

Smithsonian

• Schuessler, Graham, Bowley, Jennifer, and Robin Pogrebin. “White House Announces Comprehensive Review of Smithsonian Exhibitions.” The New York Times, August 12, 2025. [paywall]

• Small, Zachary. “As Trump Targets the Smithsonian, Museums Across the U.S. Feel a Chill.” The New York Times, August 23, 2025. [paywall]

• Del Barco. “Smithsonian Artists and Scholars Respond to White House List of Objectionable Art.” Culture. NPR, August 24, 2025.

• Aton, Francesca. “Amy Sherald Speaks Out About Government Censorship at the Smithsonian in New Op-Ed.” ARTnews, August 25, 2025.

• Carrigan, Margaret and Brian Boucher. “Smithsonian Latino Exhibition Quietly Shutters Until Spring 2026” Artnet News, updated August 28, 2025.

Miscellaneous

• American Library Association. “FAQ: Cancellation of the Digital Equity Act Grant Programs.” Last updated August 12, 2025. 

• Blinder, Alan. “As Trump Attacks Universities, Some Are Agreeing to Negotiate.” The New York Times, August 1, 2025. [paywall]

• Farfan, Isa. “Pennsylvania Museum Sues Trump Administration Over Grant Cuts.” Hyperallergic, August 27, 2025.

• Segalovich, Isabella. “Alligator Alcatraz, a Blueprint for Detention Centers around the U.S.?” The Architect’s Newspaper, August 22, 2025.

This issue of News Alerts was compiled by Caroline Clavell, Michele Jennings, Stephanie Kays, Torie Quiñonez, and Annie Sollinger.