The Orphan Works legislation has stirred up a storm of emotion, and the letter that follows is just one of many we’ve received.
Please read the entirety of the letter we received and our response by following this link. Read the rest of this entry »
The latest version of S. 2913, the Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008, is posted below as an Adobe Acrobat file. This version does have better requirements in the provisions regarding ownership search, but in the opinion of the Graphic Artists Guild, it does not go far enough. The Guild refused to support this latest version, but it’s included here to keep our members informed.
Lisa Shaftel, the Guild’s Advocacy Chair, and Megan E. Gray, the Guild’s lobbyist, were contacted late Friday by staff from the chairman of the full House committee who reported the House version was on the move, and we’ve seen some documentation to that effect. That said, the Guild and ASMP have been working diligently and believe the progress has been temporarily halted. Congress has adjourned, and it’s anybody’s guess what will happen with Orphan Works legislation during the post-election lame duck session.
The Guild will be updating everyone through this blog and our website regarding the current status of all Orphan Works legislation when we have more information.
The Senate passed S. 2913 -The Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008- by “hotline” on Friday, September 26, 2008.
Representative Berman still intends to release the mark-up of his bill, HR 5889. Either the House version of Orphan Works legislation, H.R. 5889, or the Senate version will become law. There are no other possible outcomes. The Guild continues to support Rep. Berman’s House bill.
The Graphic Artists Guild is urging all members and other artists to support H.R. 5889, because the bill includes a Notice of Use provision that includes a procedural “speed bump” for potential infringers. The Guild and other visual creators’ organizations have fought for inclusion of the Notice of Use and other clauses in Orphan Works legislation. The Notice of Use stipulation requires users to file their intent of using a suspected orphan work prior to use in an archive maintained by the US Copyright Office or other sanctioned entity. Read the rest of this entry »
