The Orphan Works Act of 2008 Don't Let This Pass!! .

Go to http://wuli.com/?p=574 for a good explanation of this Bill!

Artists Call to ActionThe Orphan Works Act of 2008Don't Let This Pass Make Your Voice Heardhttp://youtube.com/watch?v=CqBZd0cP5YcOn April 24, Senators Pat Leahy (D-VT) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) andRepresentatives Howard Berman (D-CA), John Conyers (D-MI) and LamarSmith (R-TX) introduced legislation (S.2913, HR 5889), which is now being referred to as the Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008. If passed, the Act would radically alter copyright laws, taking away the automatic copyright now guaranteed to artists of all types who create any type of work. Right now, under U.S. law, you are automatically guaranteed copyright on everything you create, from thesketches in your sketchpad to your best paintings and sculptures.Under the Orphan Works Act, every creator will be required to register everything he or she creates in a private registry system, requiringa fee of course, and supposedly to make it easier for the "public" tosearch for works and contact the creators if they want to use the works for some purpose.Everything created in the last 30 years will need to be registered through this as-yet nonexistent system, including those works already registered via additional fees with the copyright office. If they aren't, and some member of the public makes "due diligence" to find the creator of a work and can't find him or her, that member of the public is entitled to use the work without any limitations, andartists will have no legal recourse. That means every piece of workyou have out there, especially online, would be open season for use bymajor publishing houses and businesses (Microsoft who owns one ofthe largest online image databases and Google have already voicedsupport for the bill and indicated they will use thousands of images)and everyone in between.Proponents of the bill say it will assist the public in identifyingand contacting creators of works and going through the proper channelsto contact them to ask for permission. While we understand the needfor an organized system of search, there are MAJOR FLAWS in theproposed bill that need to be addressed before any such proposalshould take place. Here are a few points:Under this law, you would need to register every piece of work you create, including those works that you have already registered withthe Copyright Office officially, in some system that does not existand would likely require you to pay to do so. The time and cost to dothis is going to be prohibitive for visual artists.While this is meant to apply to all types of creative works, including music and literary, visual artists will be impacted the most because of the sheer volume of work we create, making it very expensive toregister everything you have ever created or will create.For the visual arts, there would still be little protection for youand your work, even if it is registered, because search tools wouldrely on names of artists or titles of work, and not image recognitiontools, which are still in their infancy of development.Under this law, if you register your work, you would have to respond to EVERY inquiry sent to you for use of the work. So in other words,if you have a work out there in a registry system, and some person contacts you and says he wants to use your work for free on his Website or in his new catalog, you would need to take the time to fficially respond to every inquiry within a specified time limit,letting him know if you do not want to have him publish your work forfree. This will take a lot of time and effort that we, as professionalartists, do not have.Last week, the House Judiciary Committee unanimously approved thebill, and yesterday, May 15, the Senate Judiciary Committee did aswell. This means the bill will be presented to Congress, likely beforethe end of May.We need you to write to your representatives ASAP and let them knowthat you do NOT want this bill to be expedited, as it is now. Tellthem we need a better solution, or tell them you don't want it at all:Just be sure to tell them something soon. Click the links below to get more information on the bill, including a video that gives you a great overview of the artists' concerns:http://youtube.com/watch?v=CqBZd0cP5Ychttp://www.illustratorspartnership.org/01_topics/article.php? alertid=11346091&type=CU<http://www.capwiz.com/artsusa/issues/alert/? below for several options of pre-written and editable lettersthat you can fill out, and that will automatically identify and sendit to your representatives when you enter your address.http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/Don't wait. Do it now. And pass this on to everyone you know.