ABC Policy Regarding the Copyrighting of Reports

(Also see Bylaw 3.7.)

To The Members of the Audit Bureau of Circulations:

The ABC Board of Directors recently proposed that the bylaws be amended to require that all Publisher's Statements and Audit Reports be copyrighted and carry a copyright notice.

The purpose of this amendment is to preserve ABC's legal rights and title under the United States and Canadian copyright laws. The enactment of the bylaws will protect ABC and the membership against illegal use of the Publisher's Statements and Audit Reports by those who are not members of the Bureau.

The proposed amendment will not, in any way, modify the long-standing policy of permitting ABC members to disseminate data for the benefit of advertisers, advertising agencies, and others interested in the advertising and publishing industry. Under the past policies, ABC obtained and retained title to all data supplied by and furnished to members. In exchange, ABC gave the members the legal right to use ABC's data, Publisher's Statements and Audit Reports in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in the Bylaws and Publicity Rules. All of the members were previously licensed by ABC to use the data. It is now proposed that Publisher's Statements and Audit Reports be added to the list of copyrighted material and used pursuant to the terms and conditions spelled out in the ABC Rules of Publicity.

The amended bylaw will specifically give the members the legal right, or license, to use the data, Publisher's Statements and Audit Reports in accordance with the ABC Rules and Bylaws and in accordance with the terms embodied in the Publicity Rules.

This continued policy of licensing the members is not intended to forfeit ABC's reservation of all rights under the copyright laws to pursue illegal infringement and third party piracy. Although ABC has never allowed illegal dissemination of works in the past, the enactment of this amended bylaw will benefit both the members and ABC by insuring against unauthorized use by non-members of the data in Publisher's Statements and Audit Reports.