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 Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 4:41 am
http://mag.awn.com/?ltype=pageone&article_no=3605I don't know if this has been posted, or seen by anyone else, in here, but it's pretty big so I'm sure I could be excused if it has. redface Edit: If you're talented enough to be able to read and listen at the same time, this: http://www.sellyourtvconceptnow.com/orphan.htmlis worth listening to while you read the article. snapesgirl34 on DeviantART I've seen this being discussed in some art theft communities I belong to and it seems that people are blowing this a bit out of proportion.
Here's the info on the proposed bill at the official copyright website: [link]
and the AMSP (American Society of Media Photographers) discusses it here: [link]
Some other info you might find helpful:
[link]
[link]
[link]
What the bill is proposing is that people will be able to use orphaned works, and that a work is considered orphaned if the creator can not be found after a reasonably diligent search. The controversy stems from people not being able to agree how extensive the "reasonably diligent " search needs to be.
So no, we're not all going to lose the copyrights on all our works, we don't have to pay fees to get our work copyrighted, and it's still illegal for people to sell our work without permission.
Also a similar bill was introduced a few years ago, but was never passed.
That being said, I still think artist's should follow this bill very carefully as it is important we protect our work. SlavePriestess They've been TRYING to make this Orphan Works Bill work for the past TWO YEARS.
Two years may be a long time, and we all hope they'd quit, but for some reason, WHAT IF, while we had our guards down, twiddling our thumbs, laughing and so confident that a bill like this won't come to pass, SUDDENLY IT DOES?!
I say we keep our guard up and make sure THIS doesn't happen. This is also a breach of privacy (people can take pictures of you and sell it off, and those parties would be earning a lot of money except for you) but more importantly, our livelihood and right.
Keep your guard up Gaians. This issue isn't over.
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 5:15 am
what the ******** ******** ******** rich b*****d street
D<
;____;
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 5:19 am
Shangrii-La what the ******** ******** ******** rich b*****d street D< ;____; quite ;^;
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 5:23 am
dhoffryn Shangrii-La what the ******** ******** ******** rich b*****d street D< ;____; quite ;^; I just googled it and apparently they won't be able to be sold, but they can use it without asking. I think it's for things like news articles and museums who don't want to pay to use the art in their books and things. D: Which means that photographers are really up the s**t hole. I want the bill to be presented so I can see it for what it is, there seems to be a ton of hype about it.
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 5:27 am
Shangrii-La dhoffryn Shangrii-La what the ******** ******** ******** rich b*****d street D< ;____; quite ;^; I just googled it and apparently they won't be able to be sold, but they can use it without asking. I think it's for things like news articles and museums who don't want to pay to use the art in their books and things. D: Which means that photographers are really up the s**t hole. I want the bill to be presented so I can see it for what it is, there seems to be a ton of hype about it. But it would depend entirely upon who wants whatever you create, and whether they see it as valuable or not. It would completely screw up the chances of making a living as an artist.
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 5:30 am
dhoffryn But it would depend entirely upon who wants whatever you create, and whether they see it as valuable or not. It would completely screw up the chances of making a living as an artist. ;______; so that's all of our lives ******** then. It's probably going to pass, money seems to be above people's happiness and livelihoods today. D:
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 5:33 am
Shangrii-La dhoffryn But it would depend entirely upon who wants whatever you create, and whether they see it as valuable or not. It would completely screw up the chances of making a living as an artist. ;______; so that's all of our lives ******** then. It's probably going to pass, money seems to be above people's happiness and livelihoods today. D: The audio clip has links to senators and stuff in the US, and they tell you to contact the appropriate person, by any means available, and if it gets stopped in America, then the chances are it'll make it less likely to get passed elsewhere.
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 5:36 am
Taken from the article "CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATOR: Go to http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml to quickly find the phone number, address and e-mail of every U.S. senator, U.S. representative, governor and state legislator. Forward this article to every creator you know and urge them to take a moment to protect their very livelihood. I am giving everyone the right to reprint this article in any form to help spread the word to protect our creative rights.Instead of sitting around watching TV tonight, TiVo that show, write a letter and make yourself heard. Letters to our government officials don't have to be long, but they should be heartfelt. A good story helps. Tell them who you are, how this legislation negatively affects you and that you want them to vote against the Orphan Works legislation. It's that easy!"
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 5:38 am
I'll send emails by the dozen
:3
And go about all the art shops now
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 6:22 am
Anyone with a law background can see it won't be passed. I'm not worried.
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 6:42 am
Das Portemonnaie Anyone with a law background can see it won't be passed. I'm not worried. Corrupt governments + common sense = **ERROR**
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 6:51 am
battes Das Portemonnaie Anyone with a law background can see it won't be passed. I'm not worried. Corrupt governments + common sense = **ERROR** I don't live in the US, and have my doubts that anyone could be stupid/greedy enough to want that passed, and doubt very much that anyone would take steps to get it passed, but I'm still worried. Even more so if people who have the opportunity to say something against it takes the same apathetic stance as that. neutral
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 8:02 am
This has been kicking around for awhile, though. I saw articles on this maybe two or three years ago, and nothing really came of it. I guess it's being spread around again. Now with 500 times more sensationalism!
There's a huge difference between "you lose all rights to your work if you don't register it" and "someone can use your work if they can't contact you about it" - basically if you leave your artwork around without some sort of name or information attached to it and someone makes a reasonable effort to find you and can't due to lack of information, they'll be able to use your work.
The problem is, lots of artists, especially online, don't normally include a real name or contact info (like an e-mail) on their images. Often, the copyright or signature written on an image is stated as belonging to a fictional character/an online handle that the artist uses. Some people (like me, because I'm lazy) put no information on their work at all.
Registering your work would make it slightly easier for someone to find you in the event that they want to use your work - this way, theft becomes less of a problem, and the amount of artwork that falls under "orphaned work" (a term used to describe artwork whose owner cannot be located) will be reduced. However, having to register everything you do would be a pain. Having to search though piles of information to find the one artist you're looking for would be a pain. And, because the USA is part of the Berne Convention, we're prohibited from making registration a requirement to obtain a copyright.
Current copyright laws are kind of vague on the subject of orphaned work, from what I understand. Sometimes the issue can be sorted out under current law, but other times it can't be. There's no real way around not being able to find someone for permission to use their work. And when you get people who use it without permission, it creates problems for everyone. Here's an article about the proposed bill and what its objectives are:
http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/woissues/copyrightb/orphanworks/orphanworks.cfm#house22may
And a PDF containing a report on the problem of orphaned works:
http://www.copyright.gov/orphan/orphan-report.pdf
These were taken from the artists_beware community on LiveJournal, which someone pointed me to after having read the article you linked to.
I don't know the guy who wrote the article in the original post, but I'm pretty sure this exact same thing happened the last time the bill was brought up - lots of people flipped out because oh my god they lose rights to their work what the ******** stupid government bastards - though the reality is much less ridiculous.
Another point:
As it stands, you don't need to register your work with the copyright office to have it copyrighted - once you create a work of art, it's yours. United States copyright law only got to this point after we joined the Berne Convention, so whether or not this bill will actually get passed is another thing entirely, and I guess it all depends on how, exactly, the government defines its solution to the orphaned works problem.
Right now it seems to be mostly in terms of monetary value, like how much of a penalty someone would have to pay for using what could have been an orphaned work but actually isn't (basically if, after an attempt to find the artist has been made, the artist appears to claim their work after it's been used without their permission).
So it's not as horrible as it seems, but it's not exactly wonderful, either. If you're really worried about situations like this, the best thing to do would be to include useful information with your work so that people can find you.
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 8:04 am
dhoffryn battes Das Portemonnaie Anyone with a law background can see it won't be passed. I'm not worried. Corrupt governments + common sense = **ERROR** I don't live in the US, and have my doubts that anyone could be stupid/greedy enough to want that passed, and doubt very much that anyone would take steps to get it passed, but I'm still worried. Even more so if people who have the opportunity to say something against it takes the same apathetic stance as that. neutral Rape shield laws got passed, so don't be so sure about that. They always find an excuse.
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 8:11 am
I have actually heard a lot about this because my teacher's mentor is the famous Brad Holland and right now he is fight on behalf of artists against this bill.
@ Silver Tiger: it is still bullshit that if someone can't find you that means they can use your work. That is like saying that if I can't find the owner of a car after a reasonable search then I get to use it. If you can't find the owner, you can't use it. It is simple as that.
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