For Immediate Release February 15, 2005

For More Information Contact: Diane Brown, 317-274-7711 habrown@iupui.edu

IU-Indianapolis Law Professor Wins National Award for Copyright Efforts

INDIANAPOLIS - The American Library Association (ALA) has named an IU School of Law-Indianapolis professor the first recipient of a national award recognizing significant contributions in support of the balanced application of rights under copyright laws.

Professor Kenneth D. Crews will receive the L. Ray Patterson Copyright Award: In Support of Users' Rights during the 2005 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago on June 26. The ALA 's Office of Information Technology Policy will present the award, a crystal, trophy, to Crews during a special copyright program.

The award is named in memory of University of Georgia law Professor L. Ray Patterson who was recognized as an advocate for fair use, public domain and users' rights in keeping with the constitutional purpose of the U.S. copyright law.

Crews, who teaches intellectual property law at the law school on the IUPUI campus, holds a joint appointment with the School of Library and Information Science. As associate dean of the faculties for copyright management, Crews is also director of the Copyright Management Center at IUPUI.

"Kenny Crews makes a very important contribution to the (law) School, the university, the academic community, generally, and to libraries across the nation and abroad through his work in copyright law," said IU School of Law-Indianapolis Dean Anthony Tarr. "He achieves a very effective balance between the rights and responsibilities of all interested parties and his work enjoys the dual distinctions of academic excellence and pragmatic application."

According to the award letter, the ALA selected Crews as the award recipient because of his "outstanding contributions in support of a balanced application of copyright, tireless efforts to address copyright in ways meaningful to the library and academic communities, and leadership in framing legal issues and policies that advance the rights of users and that encourage the preservation of fair use and a robust public domain."

The award committee specifically cited Crew's innovative leadership of the Copyright Center, negotiation of fair use guidelines in electronic reserves systems, and work in modernizing copyright law regarding digital distance learning.

"Your numerous publications, lectures, and presentations have had an unrivaled influence in the law and library and information science," said Janice Pilch, in a letter advising Crews of his selection. Pilch, an assistant professor of library administration at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is chair of an ALA copyright advisory committee.

Crews joined the IU School of Law-Indianapolis staff in 1994 after practicing law in Los Angeles and teaching business law on a California State University campus.

He holds a law degree from Washington University in St. Louis and doctorate and master's degrees from the School of Library and Information Science at UCLA.

His numerous publications include his most recent books "Copyright Essentials for Librarians and Educators," and "Copyright, Fair Use, and the Challenge for Colleges: Promoting the Progress of Higher Education," published in 2000 and 1993, respectively.

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