The Orphan Works Act of 2008
Creative professionals ... Two tendentious pieces of legislation are now being sponsored by our “friends” in Congress that will give corporations another big advantage in the arena of “creative rights”.
Bill # H.R.5889 & Bill # S.2913 - These bills effectively release creative work, whose authors or originators cannot be found, to be used by anyone, including major corporations. This will allow large corporations to take advantage of the limited understanding of Federal Copyright Law by artists, illustrators and other individuals who provide creative services.
These two bills would require the authors of so-called "orphaned works" to go through extraordinary measures to digitally copy and submit their work the federal copyright office if they discover that their work has been appropriated by another entity. This doesn't just effect artists and creative professionals, it will potentially effect everyone, including joe-Flickr-user. Regardless of who you are, whether you post images on Flickr, a social networking site, or in your online portfolio, if you do not take measures to protect your work, it could wind up appearing in a multi-million dollar advertising campaign.
Much like work-for-hire abuses, Bill # H.R.5889 & Bill # S.2913, would provide coporations with the legal means to "steal" creative work they want to use without having to compensate the author.
These bills are being sponsored by Democrats, Howard Berman (D-CA), John Conyers (D-MI), and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Republicans, Howard Coble (R-NC) and Lamar Smith (R-TX).
Learn more about these bills here:
http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/issues/bills/?billid=11320236
http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/issues/bills/?bill=11322171
Please write your congressmen and express your opinions, outrage, and/or contempt for the elected officials who are supposedly protecting the rights of small business owners and average Americans.
In the meantime, learn how to protect yourself and sign, watermark, and/or add meta data to any work you post online. Don't post high resolution images and use your real name in blog posts, not fake names or unidentifiable email addresses. If you post on social networks or file sharing sites, be sure to establish and regularly check your email inbox for requests to use the work.
Lastly, learn about your rights.
informative article, keep the information flowing thank you.