There's Always Someone: Photographers Against Orphan Works Legislation
from the perspective dept
One of the big problems with the repeated extensions of the length of copyright protection is that it's really an extremely small percentage of works that have an active market that long. Many of the other works have become "orphan works." Basically, no one has any idea how to reach whoever it is that might own the copyright. That's problematic, because that content is basically dead. No one can ever use it without, technically, violating copyright law. So, some people are finally trying to address this with some "orphan works" legislation that would basically let you use content if, after an exhaustive search, you couldn't find the owner. This seems like a reasonable thing to put in place -- barring more reasonable overall copyright law. And, honestly, you might wonder who would possibly oppose it? Photographers, apparently. They seem to think that this will allow people to make cursory searches -- and since many photos appear without attribution, people will be free to reuse them all the time. That, of course, isn't quite what the proposed legislation says. It supposedly puts in place a pretty high standard for anyone who uses supposedly orphaned works. Also, as Jerry Brito points out in the link above, if anything, this should just make more incentive for photographers to make sure their works are credited when used.
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It's Supply and Demand
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People Already Do This
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Re: People Already Do This
"Take it down" doesn't work as well in the physical world as the Internet world. Once you've already printed a book, or made a film from historical clips, it becomes a lot harder to just remove the offensive bits.
Remember the case about 12 Monkeys? An artist whose work was used (the chair) was able to enjoin distribution of the entire film until a settlement was reached. Running the risk that distribution will be enjoined after huge investments have been made is not a viable option for most publishers in the "real world"
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this is already kinda the case..
I'm sure this legislation just makes it somewhat easier to get these works in the public domain but it seems redundant to me.
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No Subject Given
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Orphan Works Legislation
What ever makes you think that photographers have that kind of power? Publishers ignore contracts from small businesses on a regular basis or rather what usually happens is you publish their way or the highway.
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Not an Orphan Works Amendment
by Brad Holland
March 21, 2006
For over a year, we’ve used these emails to warn you about the coming Orphan Works amendment. Now it’s time to call it by its real name: This is not an “orphan works amendment.” An OW amendment would have applied to old work whose authors are hard to find. This proposal will apply to past, present and future work. It will be retroactive. It will interfere with working artists and commercial markets. It will nullify your exclusive rights to your work. It is the undoing of existing copyright law and it’s a challenge to the rest of the world to follow. If you’ve never cared about copyright law before, this is the time to start.
The madcap rush to ram a bill through Congress suggests that there are special interests who want to get it on the books before it can be exposed for what it is. These special interests are still not happy with the Copyright Office’s proposal. They want no penalties for infringement or a cap no higher than $200. These groups are well-funded, well staffed and they’ll be lobbying full-time to get what they want. Congress has warned us that very little is negotiable, but this is not the time to lie down and die. Last Wednesday, the IPA filed written testimony with the House Judiciary Subcommittee. We’ll email you the text of that testimony tomorrow.
-Brad Holland, for the Board of the Illustrators’ Partnership
This may be republished, posted or forwarded in its entirety to any interested party.
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3.29.06-Video Webcast/Oversight Hearing on "Remedi
http://judiciary.house.gov/oversight.aspx?ID=226
The four on the Witness List reading their statements and answering questions are:
1.) Paul Aiken-Executive Director, Authors Guild.
2.) Jenny Toomey-Executive Director, Future of Music Coalition.
3.) Brad Holland-Founding Board Member, Illustrators' Partnership of America.
4.) Victor S. Perlman-General Counsel and Managing Director, American Society of Media Photographers, Inc. Internet, and Intellectual Property" link. Look under HEARING DOCUMENTATION and then click on "Video Webcast". The complete video is 54:54 minutes long and uses RealPlayer.
http://judiciary.house.gov/oversight.aspx?ID=226
The four on the Witness List reading statements and answering questions are:
1.) Paul Aiken-Executive Director, Authors Guild.
2.) Jenny Toomey-Executive Director, Future of Music Coalition.
3.) Brad Holland-Founding Board Member, Illustrators' Partnership of America.
4.) Victor S. Perlman-General Counsel and Managing Director, American Society of Media Photographers, Inc.
Thanks very much for posting this forum.
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Orpahns are not Works of Art, they are someones children
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Orphan Works
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