ALVT Background & History

The Section 108 Due Diligence Project

The Section 108 Due Diligence Project began in 2015 and sought to capture the search efforts for current distribution of VHS video titles eligible for duplication under Section 108 of U.S. Copyright law. The initial contents catalogued titles owned by the three libraries participating in the original project: American University, Washington, DC; Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ; and William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ., and has since been added to by other institutions.

The intention of the Section 108 Due Diligence project, which has since incorporated into ALVT, was to provide a tool to speed the research of librarians and archivists who are undertaking VHS preservation projects. This database remains open for search by the public. By sharing our research, we hope to reduce the duplication of efforts.

How does Section 108 apply to VHS preservation?

Under Section 108 of US Copyright law, non-profit libraries and archives have an available remedy to the problem of obsolete and/or deteriorating VHS materials in their collections in that the statute allows for the creation of up to 3 “preservation copies” of content that is lost, damaged, stolen, deteriorating, or an in obsolete format. With the end of VCR manufacturing in 2016, the format now fits the definition of “obsolete” and broadly fits the legal requirements for duplication and the creation of preservation copies under Section 108.

However, a library cannot simply begin digitizing all of their VHS tapes. Section 108 requires that, prior to duplication, a reasonable search be conducted to determine that a non-obsolete, unused copy of the title is not available at a fair price. The ALVT catalog retains search information related thousands of VHS holdings in library collections that can be leveraged by other organizations to assist in their VHS preservation efforts.

See the FAQs for more information about the terms and limitations of ALVT.