Europe Pushing For An Orphan Works Law Also
from the will-it-get-done? dept
Many in the US have been pushing for an "orphan works" law for quite some time -- which would create an exception for copyright infringement if the owner of a work simply can't be found. It's difficult to find any serious reason why an orphan works exception shouldn't be included in copyright law as written, but there are always some who pop up as being against it -- usually because they don't understand what it is (there are some who seem to be purposely spreading misinformation about orphan works bills). Thus, it continually fails to move forward in the US -- even as politicians insist it's necessary. It looks like Europe may be going down the same route these days, as it's now looking at creating an orphan works law as well. Now we'll see if it faces the same misguided opposition.Still, as William Patry notes in his book, the real shame is that the whole reason we need an orphan works bill in the first place is due to how screwed up copyright law has become since switching from a "formalities" approach to one where everything is automatically covered by copyright. Under the old system (pre-1976 Act in the US), in order to get a copyright, you had to register, and then at certain points, re-register it, to have and keep it covered by copyright. Thus, any such "orphan" works fell into the public domain after a short period of time -- and it worked fine. There was no "orphan works" problem, because those works that no longer that weren't being used for commercial purposes went into the public domain in a relatively short period of time. The most amazing thing, though, is that very few of those supporting orphan works legislation seem to recognize that the whole "problem" is one they made themselves by extending insanely long copyrights to pretty much everything.
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Filed Under: copyright, europe, orphan works
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If a registration were initially $100, by 31 years of copyright renewal would cost 3.2 million or so...
Though it would stay under 100 grand for the first 20 - 25 years.
Would give more benefits of protection to more "sellable" and successful registrations, others it wouldn't be worth the cost and they'd just expire really quick.
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In the interest of candor, the 1976 act did carry over the requirement of notice, but the requirement was tossed aside in 1989 when the US agreed to accede to the provisions of the Berne Convention of 1887 (or thereabout).
Mr. Patry and I are in total agreement that the removal of aubstantially all formalities was a step backward. Just as persons seeking patents are required to comply with a whole host of formalities, I see no good reason for copyrights to somehow get a "bye".
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Why people oppose an "orphan works" bill
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Err AC enter your name ..
"Mr. Patry and I are in total agreement"
So who the hell are you ? (probably more accurate why do you think you're important?)
Comment 3, are you the same person ?
I really think the sooner society gets over this 'me too' mentality we'll be a hell of a lot better off. The biggest problem with patents and IP is that it's totally unnecessary. It's just a way for people to get money (which really, humans could manage without and we'd probably have a lot less problems).
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Re: Err AC enter your name ..
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Re: Err AC enter your name ..
Obviously someone much more familiar than you about the metes and bounds of copyright law, and one with whom Mr. Patry has indeed stated we are in agreement that the loss of formalities in the name of international hormonization was a step backwards for copyright law in the United States.
Perhaps the better question is why you choose to focus on the identity of a commentor and not on his comments. You seem to elevate the irrelevant to a position higher than substantive matters.
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"Formality" copyrights
Copyright EXTENSION, really, is the problem. When the creator no longer cares about the work -- perhaps by virtue of being dead -- the material is essentially lost. No one can use it. That's what orphan works laws are for, and that's why it's important.
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Re: "Formality" copyrights
[citation needed]
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Re: "Formality" copyrights
In any event, the two prior questions are more important - is copyright valuable? If so, what is an appropriate term of copyright?
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Re: "Formality" copyrights
Thus, there were few, if any, hoops for an author to jump through prior to publication.
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