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Hottest YouTube Video this week
Posted by Don S. in Your Rights on November 7, 2009
A remarkable 5 yr. old boy’s gymnastic talent gathered more than 5 million views so far on YouTube. The video quality is bad but the feats are remarkable. It intrigues me to know how a video goes “viral”, as this one has.
Giuliano Stroe, a 5 year old Romanian:
Attention! Defeat the Coburn Amendment!
Posted by Don S. in Your Rights on February 10, 2009
For immediate action!
The Arts don’t belong in the Stimulus Plan?
The Coburn Amendment, proposed by Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK). was adopted by the Senate late Friday afternoon and the Senate version of the bill passed that evening. That amendment prohibits museums, theatres, arts center, and zoos from receiving federal stimulus money. How dumb is that?
The federal stimulus bill is now being negotiated between the House and the Senate versions. The House version contains $50 million for the NEA and the Senate version has the Coburn Amendment.
Help America recover. Call your Senators and Congresspersons through the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121. They’re waiting to hear from you.
Also, send an e-mail through the Americans for the Arts web site:
http://www.capwiz.com/artsusa/home
Please share this will all your friends! Post to the social bookmarking links below.
We must do everything we can to eliminate the Coburn Amendment which says that arts and culture are not part of our economy.
Good will to orphans, not Orphan Works 2008
Posted by Don S. in Featured, Your Rights on December 14, 2008
The Orphan Works Act of 2008 has nothing to do with orphans. I wish big media would put as much time and effort into working with orphans the world over as they put into the attempted passage of the culturally destructive Orphan Works Act of 2008. It would be a better world.
Fortunately, that act has not passed (yet!), although it came VERY close. Let’s pledge to get the right people to Obama’s transition team to help write a fair law. Despite what you’ve heard, the right people have still not been consulted.
Here is a list of 81 organizations representing over 500,000 creative professionals worldwide who need to be heard:
Groups Opposing the House & Senate Orphan Works Bills as Written
Also:
How the Orphan Works Acts affect visual artists
Subscribe to the action blog that will keep you up-to-date
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Latest Orphan Works News
Posted by Don S. in Your Rights on September 12, 2008
Getting accurate information on the status of Orphan Works 2008 legislation is difficult. I’m happy to present information from a reliable source that will help bring you up-to-date.
– Don Schaefer
FROM THE ILLUSTRATORS’ PARTNERSHIP
With Congress back in session this week, Orphan Works rumors are back too.
According to some sources, deals have been made to pass the bills quickly. According to others, the bills have stalled for this session. Here’s what we know, independent of conflicting sources:
SEPT 6 OpenCongress Lists “8 Controversial Bills That Congress Still May Pass”
In Congress Gossip, by Donny Shaw, the article notes that the Orphan Works Bills “have been called out by concerned citizens… but are in a good position to quickly become law” in the next several weeks. The author quotes artist Brad Holland and attorney Larry Lessig in opposition to the legislation, and ends with this quote from “an anonymous OpenCongress user”:
“Isn’t it funny how music is getting huge, sledgehammer like protection in HR 4279 and visual art is getting devalued and made worthless by this bill, HR 5889? Music must just be soo much more valuable. It’s all about the corporate interests. Artists need to band together for our own protection and fight this dangerous bill. I’m an art student, and while I will never stop making art I’m worried I’ll be unable to make a living at it. It’s never been easy to be an artist without this kind of stuff coming along and making it impossible for us.”
Read the full article here: http://www.opencongress.org/articles/view/636-8-Controversial-Bills-That-Congress-Still-May-Pass
SEPT 10 Authors Groups Submit Opposition Papers to Small Business Administration
The Illustrators’ Partnership, Artists Rights Society and Advertising Photographers of America have submitted over 60 papers and articles to the Office of Advocacy of the US Small Business Administration. These written statements were filed on behalf of attorneys, illustrators, designers, fine artists, photographers, songwriters, musicians, writers, members of the art licensing community and other small business owners. All are opposed to the bill.
These papers are the written statements submitted in conjunction with the Orphan Works Roundtable, conducted by the SBA August 8, 2008 at the Salmagundi Club in New York City. The package will be distributed to lawmakers in both houses of Congress.
The webcast of the SBA Roundtable is available here: http://videos.cmitnyc.com/asip.html
A PDF of the collected papers will be available soon from the Illustrators’ Partnership Orphan Works blog: http://ipaorphanworks.blogspot.com/
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Artists Rights Society, Berne Convention, Columbia Law School, copyright, New York City, orphan works, United States, United States copyright law
