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Not an Orphan Works Amendment.
by Brad Holland
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March 21, 2006
For over a year, we’ve used these emails to warn you about the coming
Orphan Works amendment. Now it’s time to call it by its real name: This
is not an “orphan works amendment.” An OW amendment would have applied
to old work whose authors are hard to find. This proposal will apply to
past, present and future work. It will be retroactive. It will interfere
with working artists and commercial markets. It will nullify your
exclusive rights to your work. It is the undoing of existing copyright
law and it’s a challenge to the rest of the world to follow. If you’ve
never cared about copyright law before, this is the time to start.
The madcap rush to ram a bill through Congress suggests that there are
special interests who want to get it on the books before it can be exposed
for what it is. These special interests are still not happy with the
Copyright Office’s proposal. They want no penalties for infringement or a
cap no higher than $200. These groups are well-funded, well staffed and
they’ll be lobbying full-time to get what they want. Congress has warned
us that very little is negotiable, but this is not the time to lie down
and die. Last Wednesday, the IPA filed written testimony with the House
Judiciary Subcommittee. We’ll email you the text of that testimony
tomorrow.
-Brad Holland, for the Board of the Illustrators’ Partnership
This may be republished, posted or forwarded in its entirety to any
interested party.
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