Take two minutes and save the copyright for your artistic work.
The “Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008” is being hotlined for action in the U.S. Senate, possibly today or this weekend. What are orphan works and how can you lose the copyright to your images? Look farther down this page.
Write to your senators NOW to prevent the theft of your copyrighted art work.
In just a couple of minutes, you can edit and send a simple online email to your senators by going to the web site of the Graphic Artists Guild (GAG).
Where it says “Take Action Now”, fill in your zip code, and click Go.
In Section 1 check the names of your senators. Then edit the form email to insert your name and what you do as an artist (photographer, painter etc).
In Section 2, fill in your name and address information in the form below and click “Send Message”. GAG will send your email to your senators.
Pass the word along to your artistic friends.
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What are ‘Orphan Works’?
An “orphan work” is a work (such as an image) that is protected by copyright but whose copyright owner cannot be identified and located.
Under some versions of the Orphan Works Bill, it would be possible for someone to claim one of your art works has been orphaned and sell your art work. If you find out about it later, you would have no recourse and receive no compensation.
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From the ASMP web site:
“As described in a 2005 report that the Copyright Office prepared for Congress, an “orphan work” is a work (such as an image) that is protected by copyright but whose copyright owner cannot be identified and located. It is clear that such a situation harms both creators and users. However, the remedy that was proposed to the 2006 Congress was needlessly unfair to creators, leading ASMP and many other groups to seek changes when the bill was introduced.
ASMP lobbied the issue all year long, presenting our case to Congressional staffers, testifying before the House and Senate committees and, at one point, asking our members to fax letters to their elected representatives. ASMP also helped form a coalition of creator associations (including overseas groups) to press for amendments to the House and Senate bills.
The 2006 bills died in committee. But even then, it was clear that the issue would be raised anew in the next Congress. The forces in American culture that want easier access to copyrighted material have not been stopped, merely delayed.”
Read this AMSP update.
There is also an Orphan Works Q&A at the ASMP web site.
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Read more at Photo Attorney (follow the links to prior blog posts).
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Some highlights from License to Steal about Orphan Works legislation:
“However, the bill as currently drafted is terribly one-sided in favor of the publishing and library industries and very flawed when it comes to protecting the rights of photographers. In particular the draft bill:
- Makes it legal for anyone desiring to use a copyrighted work for any purpose to go ahead and use it without a license if they have made “good faith, reasonably diligent search” to locate the copyright owner.
- Use of such an “orphaned work” is free, unless the copyright owner comes forward. But even in that case the copyright owner can only claim (or sue to claim) the normal license fee, but not any additional damages or attorney’s fees–even if the work had a registered copyright.
- And even if the copyright owner discovers the violation, if the user is not making commercial use of the image, then there is no recourse and no compensation.”
