Posts Tagged orphan works
reportGood 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/
Read the rest of this entry »
Your Creative Life Interrupted
Posted by Don S. in Your Rights on July 21, 2008
This is a very important week for your creative future. We hear the House Judiciary Committee is about to mark-up H.R. 5889, the Orphan Works 2008 bill. This means it could go to the floor to be scheduled for a vote later in the week. You do not want this to happen. Click on the image below to be taken to how to quickly act now.
Stop Orphan Works 2008 legislation!
Learn more about why your should oppose Orphan Works 2008. Then put us in your Twitter, Tumblr, all your social bookmarks!
Urgent! Orphan Works Action Alert!!
Posted by Don S. in Your Rights on July 14, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
(PLEASE distribute this to all your friends. And PLEASE use the social bookmarking links at the bottom of this post.)
FROM THE ILLUSTRATORS’ PARTNERSHIP
We’ve had word that the House Judiciary Committee may mark-up the Orphan Works Bill this week.
This is the session where Committee Members will propose, accept and reject amendments to H.R. 5889. After markup, the bill could be reported out of the House Committee and go to the floor for a vote.
We’ve submitted several critical amendments for consideration: These would limit the scope of the bill to affect only true orphaned work. Unless such amendments are adopted, we believe the bill should not be reported out until its impact on small businesses can be determined. Here’s our summary of the issues at stake in the House version of this bill:
(Take Action link.)
Q What is the Orphan Works Act?
A: A proposed amendment to copyright law that would impose a radically new business model on the licensing of copyrighted work.
Q: How would it do that?
A: It would force all creators to digitize their life’s work and hand it over to privately-owned commercial databases or see it exposed to widespread infringement by anyone, for any purpose, however commercial or distasteful.
