Hello colleagues,

The Software Preservation Network’s Community Engagement Collaborative invites you to join us for the upcoming SPN Forum, “Building a Video Game Collection: Community Q&A”! The event will take place on Thursday, October 20, 2022 at 12pm ET | 4pm UTC (see your local time).

Register now to attend: https://virginia.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIuce2uqjMiHNRXUcaGHr1mz2kPNjKqKkom 

The SPN Community Engagement Collaborative occasionally invites our colleagues across professional and disciplinary communities to participate in an hour-long public discussion on topics related to software curation, preservation, and reuse. Join the Software Preservation Network to access more frequent conversations!

The Software Preservation Network is building momentum and solidarity with several organizations and communities to win an improved exemption in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act for video games. Such an exemption would enable increased preservation and access to video games.

Why is it important to advocate for an expanded exemption? A panel of video game curators, legal researchers and historians will discuss:

• How video game collections are built/curated;

• How these collections are currently being preserved: what is the current state of preservation and access without the exemption?

• What would change if the community had an expanded DMCA exemption and could rely on principles of fair use to provide access to their collections?

Your Speakers

Kendra Albert, Clinical Instructor, Harvard Cyberlaw Clinic

Andrew Borman, Digital Games Curator, The Strong Museum of Play

Brandon Butler, Director, Information Policy, University of Virginia Library

Phil Salvador, Library Director, Video Game History Foundation

Due to the enthusiasm and overwhelming community response, we are following up the June SPN Forum with an extended Q&A on this topic! The recording from June is available here for those who could not attend. If you were not able to attend then, we would love to have you join us in October!

SUBSCRIBE to the Software Preservation Network listserv to keep up with SPN! As a Software Preservation Network (SPN) listserv subscriber, you will also receive new issues of STACKTRACE: Software Preservation Network Newsletter and announcements regarding upcoming software preservation and reuse-related events and resources.

We look forward to having you at the next Software Preservation Forum on October 20th!

With best wishes,

Jess, of the SPN Community Engagement Collaborative