Drama over copyright law modernization...

Now, this topic was brought to my attention by a community of visual artists in the terms of impending apocalypse for artists... and I started to do some research on the issue. The topic at hand is referred to as "Orphan Works" Legislation. The basic background is that, under current U.S. Copyright Law, any creator of intellectual property has a default basic copyright simply by creating said property and noting their role as author and rights holder. This right has been extended for up to 50 years after the artist (or copyright holder's) death before it passes into the public domain. But the argument against this system is that, given the MASSIVE proliferation of digital content transmission, it is increasingly difficult to find the originator of any given work if one wants to use a portion of it to support their own work. I quote the registrar of u.s. copyrights before a congressional hearing on this matter on march 13, 2008 (full text can be found here)

the most striking aspect of orphan works is that the frustrations are pervasive in a way that many
copyright problems are not. When a copyright owner cannot be identified or is unlocatable, potential users abandon important, productive projects, many of which would be beneficial to our national heritage. Scholars cannot use the important letters, images and manuscripts they search out in archives or private homes, other than in the limited manner permitted by fair use or the first sale doctrine.

Okay, so that is the basis of this problem... And Congress in conjunction with the U.S. Copyright office have been debating this problem since an initial bill was debated in 2006 (HR6052, called the Copyright Modernization Act of 2006) and failed to pass through Congress, at which point studies were undertaken and the issue was re-addressed last month. I present this information because it is vital to understand that there is a deliberate, studied process going on about how to deal with a legitimate concern. Which brings us to today, when all the artist forums are exploding in indignation at "the government trying to steal your rights." I have been looking for two hours. I'm pretty damn good at web research. This bill that everyone is buzzing about DOESN'T EXIST YET. It's still being authored. That being said, the rumored system for new copyright (which everyone is up in arms about)is that private firms will be set up as "registries" with the technical capabilities to track mass amounts of intellectual property (and of course to set their own price point and compensation systems to register and manage images.) Quoting again, from the most reasonable, official response that I have located, (found here) by Brad Holland and Cynthia Turner on Behalf of the Illustrators’ Partnership of America.

The cavalier disrespect for the fundamental principle of exclusive authors’ rights that is inherent in the Copyright Office’s legislative scheme is reflected in the following colloquy between this author and the General Counsel of the Copyright Office at a meeting in which he responded to the concerns of visual artists about the potential harmful effects of this legislation.

Holland: If a user can’t find a registered work at the Copyright Office, hasn’t the Copyright Office facilitated the creation of an orphaned work?

Carson: Copyright owners will have to register their images with private registries.

Holland: But what if I exercise my exclusive right of copyright and choose not to register?

Carson: If you want to go ahead and create an orphan work, be my guest! (From the author’s notes of the meeting.)

Other links of interest:
The previous Orphan Works Act, from 2006
Info on the subcommittee that is hearing this issue, if you want to know who to contact to ask questions
The specific march 13 hearing which everyone is buzzing about
Response to the congressional hearing by the ASMP
FAQ by the Illustrator's Partnership of America
Kindof angry blog site that opposes legislation... has an interesting (if long) mp3 audio interview.

I'm providing all of these links because I'm still sitting the fence on these issues. As an artist, I RELY on my default copyright to give me some form of protection for the works I create, but the problems of preservation, archiving and derivative works are not simple. If you notice one of the witnesses at that congressional hearing is the legal council for the national holocaust museum... how many pictures were taken by army photographers and soldiers (now effectively anonymous) to document German detention camps. Can we insist they not be used as historical evidence at the museum because they are someone else's artistic material whom we can't identify? Is this the correct piece of legislation to address this issue? Who the hell knows. It seems heavily slanted to favor large image registries and corporations over individual artists. Just keep all these things in mind, and when they DO offer the official text of a bill, look at it and decide for yourself.

tags: copyright  congress  legislation  orphan  works  act  art  artists  law  

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