For the past year, much of the protest over the U.S. Orphan Works Act has taken place in the press and Congress. It was even the subject of the School of Visual Arts President’s commencement address this past May.
On August 8, the Small Business Administration in New York held a roundtable to discuss the controversial Orphan Works copyright legislation now before Congress. The video webcast is available here (and worth watching throughout). The Illustrators’ Partnership, the Artists Rights Society, and the Advertising Photographers of America all initiated the event, which took place at the Salmagundi Club. Tom Sullivan, director of the Office of Advocacy of Small Business Administration, hosted. Seventeen distinguished panelists presented the case against Orphan Works legislation. The bill, which will radically change the copyright law, may be temporarily stalled but is alive and well, and continues to threaten artists’ rights.
For further discussion listen to my interview with Brad Holland on Core77.
About Steven Heller
Steven Heller is the co-chair of the SVA MFA Designer /Designer as Author + Entrepreneur program, writes frequently for Wired and Design Observer. He is also the author of over 170 books on design and visual culture. He received the 1999 AIGA Medal and is the 2011 recipient of the Smithsonian National Design Award.
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