Stop the Orphan Works Bill

Have you ever had your work reprinted without your permission? In the world of advertising and graphic design, such an experience is not terribly uncommon. Usually, a strongly worded email is enough for a retraction and apology, and if not, then perhaps a lawsuit can be filed with a reasonable chance of a successful outcome. Or at least, that was how things worked before the Orphan Works Act of 2008.

This bill (S.2913, H.R5889), currently being debated in Congress, states that any work will be considered “orphaned” five years after its completion date. Any creation (includ-ing photography, illustration, letters, emails, etc., of either a personal or professional na-ture) could then be used in any manner with no compensation whatsoever to the original artist.

The Orphaned Works Act will make it nearly impossible to protect the rights of your art-work/writings. The legislation’s proposed protection process is vague and cumbersome, requiring artists to scan and register all works with private, for-profit registries (which don't yet exist). The structure and cost for these registries has not yet been established, but an untenable fee of $100 per piece per registry is not out of the question. Infringers would only be required to perform a subjective “reasonable search” to determine the ownership status of a piece of artwork.

The Illustrators' Partnership has created a form letter that clearly expresses why artists of all ages and genres will be hurt by this legislation. You only have to provide your zip code to link to the email addresses of your state's congressmen and senators (there is also an option to add your own thoughts to the form letter). Please take a few minutes right now to send these letters and protect the rights to your intellectual property before it’s too late.

Contact your Senator in opposition to S.2913 by clicking here http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/issues/alert/?alertid=11389061

The House Judiciary Committee is considering H. R. 5889, the companion
bill to S.2913. Contact your Congressman in opposition to H.R. 5889 by clicking here http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/issues/alert/?alertid=11389081

To add your name to a petition against this Anti-Free Speech, Anti-Artist, Anti-Journalist Legislation. http://www.petitiononline.com/Stop2913/petition.html

If you are interested in further discussion on this topic, click below to a New York Times Op-Ed piece written by Stanford law professor, Lawrence Lessig who, despite his not being a fan of artist’s copyrights in general, still thinks this is a bad idea. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/opinion/20lessig.html