Has anyone heard of the

T tobunga Tiki Socialite Joined: Apr 12, 2008 Posts: 1235	T tobunga Posted posted on Mon, May 19, 2008 10:30 PM I came across a posting on craigslist today from the Illustrators' Partnership about something called the Orphan Works Act. Here is a quote from that post: "Last Thursday the Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed their Orphan Works Act. It is now headed for the full Senate. If you’ve written before, now’s the time to write again. Urge your senator to oppose this bill. Because it has been negotiated behind closed doors, introduced on short notice and fast-tracked for imminent passage without open hearings, ask that this bill not be passed until it can be exposed to an open, informed and transparent public debate." You can see the post here: http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/ats/686753920.html There are links in the post, one for a letter they have drafted: http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/issues/alert/?alertid=11389061 Here is a quiote from that letter which describes the fallout if this passes: "I’m writing to ask that you oppose S. 2913, the Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008. Despite the title of this bill, its effects will not be limited to those works that are true “orphans”. Instead, it will affect any citizen’s creative work, from professional works of art to Sunday paintings to vacation photos. The issue at stake is not small. This bill is in fact a radical reversal of copyright law and the logic of ownership of personal property. Instead of providing solutions to appropriately deal with copyrighted work whose creators are hard to identify or locate, the Orphan Works Bill, will instead legalize the commercial or non-commercial infringement of any work of art, past, present, and future, regardless of age, country of origin, published or unpublished, whenever a copyright owner cannot be identified or located, and will disproportionately cause harm to visual artists and those who are rights holders of visual works. Current copyright law protects everything you create from the moment you create it. But under this amendment, nothing you create will be protected from potential infringement, even if you undertake active steps to assert and maintain ownership – a daunting task for creators of visual works. The Copyright Office studied the specific subject of “orphan works” – copyrighted works whose owners may be impossible to identify or locate. Yet this bill would drastically affect commercial markets, a subject the Copyright Office never studied." This link is also included in the craigslist post: The House Judiciary Committee is considering H.R. 5889, the companion bill now. Please write them again: http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/issues/alert/?alertid=11389081 You can go to their website for more info: http://www.illustratorspartnership.org I know this post isn't strictly about "creating tiki", but I think this issue pertains to all the artists who post here and the work they create... hope I'm not being too alarmist!

I came across a posting on craigslist today from the Illustrators' Partnership about something called the Orphan Works Act.
Here is a quote from that post:

"Last Thursday the Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed their Orphan Works Act.
It is now headed for the full Senate.

If you’ve written before, now’s the time to write again.
Urge your senator to oppose this bill.

Because it has been negotiated behind closed doors, introduced on short notice and fast-tracked for imminent passage without open hearings, ask that this bill not be passed until it can be exposed to an open, informed and transparent public debate."

You can see the post here:
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/ats/686753920.html

There are links in the post, one for a letter they have drafted:
http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/issues/alert/?alertid=11389061

Here is a quiote from that letter which describes the fallout if this passes:

"I’m writing to ask that you oppose S. 2913, the Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008. Despite the title of this bill, its effects will not be limited to those works that are true “orphans”. Instead, it will affect any citizen’s creative work, from professional works of art to Sunday paintings to vacation photos. The issue at stake is not small. This bill is in fact a radical reversal of copyright law and the logic of ownership of personal property.

Instead of providing solutions to appropriately deal with copyrighted work whose creators are hard to identify or locate, the Orphan Works Bill, will instead legalize the commercial or non-commercial infringement of any work of art, past, present, and future, regardless of age, country of origin, published or unpublished, whenever a copyright owner cannot be identified or located, and will disproportionately cause harm to visual artists and those who are rights holders of visual works.

Current copyright law protects everything you create from the moment you create it. But under this amendment, nothing you create will be protected from potential infringement, even if you undertake active steps to assert and maintain ownership – a daunting task for creators of visual works.

The Copyright Office studied the specific subject of “orphan works” – copyrighted works whose owners may be impossible to identify or locate. Yet this bill would drastically affect commercial markets, a subject the Copyright Office never studied."

This link is also included in the craigslist post:
The House Judiciary Committee is considering H.R. 5889, the companion bill now. Please write them again:
http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/issues/alert/?alertid=11389081

You can go to their website for more info:
http://www.illustratorspartnership.org

I know this post isn't strictly about "creating tiki", but I think this issue pertains to all the artists who post here and the work they create... hope I'm not being too alarmist!

Post #381362 by tobunga on Mon, May 19, 2008 10:30 PM