Brad Holland and the Illustrators Partnership need your help opposing legislation that will put the livelihood of every illustrator and photographer at risk, and if passed, would pretty much mean an end to any right you have to your own creations.
Despite its seemingly laudable ends, S. 2913 and HR. 5889 - the "Orphan Works Bill" needs to be opposed and defeated. And we need to do this immediately! Here's why:
1. It changes the 1976 U.S. Copyright Act (enacted in 1978), and
makes it virtually impossible for artists to protect their work. It
basically allows anyone to use a design without the copyright
holder's permission.
2. It requires artists to attempt to protect their work by
registering it with a digital data base system (presumably for a fee,
in addition to the copyright filing fee)-when no such system exists!
3. It eliminates statutory damages wherever an infringer can
successfully claim an orphan works defense, thus eliminating the only tool the law provides to prevent deliberate infringement.
4. It allows for an infringer to create-and copyright-a derivative
work from the original design.
A webcast interview with Brad Holland about the Orphan Works act bill can be heard at:
http://www.sellyourtvconceptnow.com/orphan.html
The Orphan Works Act of 2008 is hugely critical to the possible
future careers of artists everywhere and it must be opposed.
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