Hi All,
Attention All Artists
I have just picked up this piece of information on another Forum Please read all of it it affects YOU
:-> An Orphaned Work is any creative work of art where the artist or
> copyright owner has released their copyright, whether on purpose,
by
> passage of time, or by lack of proper registration. In the same way
that
> an orphaned child loses the protection of his or her parents, your
> creative work can become an orphan for others to use without your
> permission.
>
> If you don't like to read long articles, you will miss incredibly
> important information that will affect the rest of your career as
an
> artist. You should at least skip to the end to find the link for a
> fantastic interview with the Illustrators' Partnership about how
you are
> about to lose ownership of your own artwork.
>
> Currently, you don't have to register your artwork to own the
copyright.
> You own a copyright as soon as you create something. International
law
> also supports this. Right now, registration allows you to sue for
> damages, in addition to fair value.
>
> What makes me so MAD about this new legislation is that it
legalizes
> THEFT! The only people who benefit from this are those who want to
make
> use of our creative works without paying for them and large
companies
> who will run the new private copyright registries.
>
> These registries are companies that you would be forced to pay in
order
> to register every single image, photo, sketch or creative work.
>
> It is currently against international law to coerce people to
register
> their work for copyright because there are so many inherent
problems
> with it. But because big business can push through laws in the
United
> States, our country is about to break with the rest of the world,
again,
> and take your rights away.
>
> With the tens of millions of photos and pieces of artwork created
each
> year, the bounty for forcing everyone to pay a registration fee
would be
> enormous. We lose our rights and our creations, and someone else
makes
> money at our expense.
>
> This includes every sketch, painting, photo, sculpture, drawing,
video,
> song and every other type of creative endeavor. All of it is at
risk!
>
> If the Orphan Works legislation passes, you and I and all creatives
will
> lose virtually all the rights to not only our future work but to
> everything we've created over the past 34 years, unless we register
it
> with the new, untested and privately run (by the friends and
cronies of
> the U.S. government) registries. Even then, there is no guarantee
that
> someone wishing to steal your personal creations won't successfully
call
> your work an orphan work, and then legally use it for free.
>
> In short, if Congress passes this law, YOU WILL LOSE THE RIGHT TO
MAKE
> MONEY FROM YOUR OWN CREATIONS!
>
> Why is this allowed to happen? APATHY and MONEY.
>
> Artists have apathy and corporations have money.
>
> We need to be heard in order to protect our incomes, our creations
and
> our careers. GET OFF YOUR ASS!
>
> That means writing letters to our congressmen and representatives.
That
> means voicing your opinion about how we need copyright protection,
as
> we've had since 1976, that protects everything we create from the
moment
> we create it. This is the case around the world.
>
> However, an Orphan Works bill is also in the works in Europe. I was
> speaking recently with Roger Dean, the famed artist of the Yes
album
> covers, and he is greatly concerned with what will happen if Orphan
> Works bills become law.
>
> "This will devastate the livelihood of artists, photographers and
> designers in a number of ways," Dean says. "That at the behest of a
few
> hugely rich corporations who got rich by selling art that they
played no
> part in the making of, the U.S. and U.K. governments are changing
the
> copyright laws to protect the infringer instead of the creator.
This is
> unjust, culturally destructive and commercial lunacy. This will not
just
> hurt millions of artists around the world.
>
> "On the other side of the coin, what argument will a U.S. court
have
> with a Chinese company that insists it did its research in China
and
> found nothing? If the cost of this is onerous for a U.S.-based
artist,
> what will it be like for artists and small businesses in emergent
> economies?"
>
> If an artist whose work is as famous as Roger Dean's is concerned
with
> this legislation, it should be of great concern for all of us.
>
> The people, associations and companies behind the Orphan Works bill
> state that orphaned works have no value. If that were true, no one
would
> want them. However, these same companies DO WANT your work, they
just
> don't want to pay for it. If someone wants something, IT HAS VALUE.
It's
> pretty simple. Some major art and photography associations, or I
should
> say, the managers of the associations, support this bill. The
reason
> they support it is that they will operate some of the registries
and
> stand to make a lot of money. Some have already been given millions
of
> dollars by the Library of Congress. Follow the money and you will
see
> why some groups support this bill of legalized theft of everything
you
> have ever created.
>
> Two proponents of this new legislation are Corbis and Getty Images.
They
> are large stock photo and stock art companies. They sell art and
photos
> inexpensively and are trying to build giant royalty-free databases.
Do
> you see how they could benefit from considering most works of art
in the
> world orphans? Do you know who owns Corbis? Bill Gates. He doesn't
do
> anything unless it can make a huge amount of money. Helping you
lose the
> copyright to your art is big business for Gates.
>
> For years we've heard of Hollywood fighting with China to protect
> copyrights and stop the pirating of DVDs. Our government has worked
with
> the studios to protect their investment.
>
> Our government is NOW WORKING AGAINST US by allowing our own fellow
> citizens TO STEAL OUR CREATIVE WORKS.
>
> It will be easy for them to get away with it unless we make
ourselves
> heard.
>
> Your calls and letters do work. I've seen many instances in which a
> single letter made a difference in public policy. Tens of thousands
of
> calls and letters help even more.
>
> This is not empty talk. I have written letters to my congressmen
and I
> will do so again. I do what I can to let every creator know about
> terrible legislation like this... thus you are reading articles
like
> this one and you can listen to interviews I've posted online.
>
> CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATOR:
> Go to
http://www.usa. gov/Contact/ Elected.shtml
> to quickly find the
phone
> number, address and e-mail of every U.S. senator, U.S.
representative,
> governor and state legislator.
>
> Forward this article to every creator you know and urge them to
take a
> moment to protect their very livelihood. I am giving everyone the
right
> to reprint this article in any form to help spread the word to
protect
> our creative rights.
>
> Instead of sitting around watching TV tonight, TiVo that show,
write a
> letter and make yourself heard.
>
> Letters to our government officials don't have to be long, but they
> should be heartfelt. A good story helps. Tell them who you are, how
this
> legislation negatively affects you and that you want them to vote
> against the Orphan Works legislation. It's that easy!
>
> If you don't, you will have only yourself to blame when you see
other
> people making money from your art and you don't see a dime.
>
> /Spider-Man/ comic artist Alex Saviuk is also concerned about the
loss
> of copyright protection. "When I found out all the negative aspects
of
> the new legislation, it would almost behoove us to want to do
something
> else for a living," says Saviuk. "If we would have to register with
all
> the different companies, we would never be able to make a living."
>
> "It would be impossible for me to register all my art," continues
> Saviuk. "It would put me out of business."
>
> You can listen to my complete interview with Alex
> online. Think
this
> doesn't apply to you? Maybe you don't license your artwork? How
about this?
>
> Photos on the internet could be orphaned. With tens of millions of
> photos shared online with services like Flickr, Shutterfly and
Snapfish,
> there is a huge opportunity for unauthorized use of your photos...
legally.
>
> You could see photos you take of your family and kids, or of a
family
> vacation, used in a magazine or newspaper without your permission
or
> payment to you. You would have to pay to register your photos, all
of
> them, in every new registry in order to protect them. Say the
average
> person takes 300 photos per year (I take a lot more than that). If
a
> registry only charges $5 per image, that is a whopping $1,500 to
protect
> your photos that are protected automatically under the current
laws. If
> there are three registries, protecting your images could cost an
amazing
> $4,500. Not to mention the time it would take to register every
photo
> you take. Plus, you will also have to place your copyright sign on
every
> photo.
>
> That's not including all your art, sketches, paintings, 3D models,
> animations, etc. Do you really have all that extra time and money?
Plus,
> even if you do register, the people stealing your work can still
claim
> it was orphaned and, unless you fight them, they win. Even if you
win,
> you may not make back your legal fees.
>
> It gets even better. Anyone can submit images, including your
images.
> They would then be excused from any liability for infringement
(also
> known as THEFT) unless the legitimate rights owner (you) responds
within
> a certain period of time to grant or deny permission to use your
work.
>
> That means you will also have to look through every image in every
> registry all the time to make sure someone is not stealing and
> registering your art. You could actually end up illegally using
your own
> artwork if someone else registers it. DOES ANYONE SEE A PROBLEM
WITH THIS?
>
> Do you think the U.S. Copyright Office is here to protect you from
this
> legislation? Think again.
>
> Brad Holland of the Illustrators' Partnership shares his notes from
a
> recent meeting with David O. Carson, general counsel of the
Copyright
> Office.
>
>
> *Brad 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?/ *David O. Carson:* Copyright owners will have to
> register their images with private registries.
>
> *BH:* /But what if I exercise my exclusive right of copyright and
choose
> not to register?/
>
> *DOC:* If you want to go ahead and create an orphan work, be my
guest!
>
> This cavalier and disrespectful dialogue should have you seeing
red. Who
> the hell does he think he is? Carson should be fired and RUN OUT OF
> WASHINGTON!
>
> None of this could happen with our current laws. Our current laws
work
> and they protect us and our creations.
>
> The only people who will benefit from the copyright law change are
those
> who can't create work on their own or companies who stand to make a
lot
> of money from using our works of art. They make contributions to
> congressmen, which is why they get what they want. We need to stand
up
> and be heard. Every one of you need to write your senators and
> representatives. We have to protect our livelihoods. It's that
serious.
>
> Plus, the technologies being developed for locating visual art
don't
> work well enough. On March 13, 2008, PicScout, the creators of one
of
> the software applications used in the registries, stated to the
House IP
> subcommittee:
>
> "Our technology can match images, or partial information of an
image,
> with 99% success."
>
> A 1% margin of error is huge when you consider the millions of
searches
> performed for art every day. That means for every million searches,
> 10,000 images could be orphaned.
>
> Plus, this only takes into account images registered on their
system. If
> you have registered all your work on another system, they won't be
> searched here and, even though you may have spent thousands of
dollars
> registering your creations, a new or unused directory could orphan
> everything you've ever created.
>
> This is just one of the many reasons why INTERNATIONAL LAW FORBIDS
> COERCED REGISTRATION as a condition of protecting your copyright.
The
> United States is about to break international law by making us
register
> our works. The people behind the bill say it's not forced
registration,
> but you won't have any rights unless you register. THIS IS
SEMANTICS! Of
> course, this is forced registration and we can't stand for it!
>
> There are many, many other problems with the Orphan Works
legislation.
> As a creator, YOU MUST understand what is going on.
>
> For additional information on Orphan Works developments, go to the
IPA
> Orphan Works Resource Page for Artists
> .
>
>
> This is not something that is going to go away easily. We need to
be
> vocal NOW!
>
> This legislation has been beaten or delayed for the past two years
and
> they will keep trying until it passes. This is no time to be quiet
and
> see what happens. What will happen depends on you. Send e-mails and
call
> your congressmen. Ownership of your own creations depends on it.
>
> Roger Dean sums this up well. "Where are the colleges and
universities
> in all this? Has the whole world gone to sleep?"
>
> *GET ON ORPHAN WORKS E-MAIL LIST*
> To be notified of the latest information on the Orphan Works bill
and
> when to contact your legislators, send an email to
> illustratorspartner ship@...
> and ask to be added to the
> Orphan Works list.
>
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