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Art Licensors Oppose Orphan Works Measure

By Staff -- Gifts and Dec, 7/16/2008 2:53:00 PM

Washington, DC — The House of Representatives may markup H.R. 5889, an Orphan Works bill, this week and send it to the floor for a vote. Opponents in the art licensing community hosted a party at the recent Atlanta gift show to raise awareness of the measure, which they feel will weaken their rights as creators. They are urging like-minded individuals to contact the members of the Judiciary committee.

According to George H. Pike, director of the Barco Law Library, the bill is designed to resolve the problem of creative works where the copyright owner cannot be identified or located, or it cannot be determined if the work is copyrighted. Without the law, for example, it can be hard for authors or archives to reproduce photos of historical interest.

The bill is based on a 2006 U.S. Copyright Office report, which proposed that potential users conduct a “reasonably diligent search” for the owner. If they were unable to locate the owner, they could go forward with the new use. If the original copyright owner is subsequently identified and asserts a copyright claim, liability for infringement would be limited to providing reasonable compensation and giving the owner some rights to restrict further publication of the new work.

Opponents particularly object to the definition of the required search, which they feel is too vague (the proposal would require the Registrar of Copyright to establish a set of best practices), and to the fact that the law would be scheduled to take effect in 2013 whether or not searchable databases of visual works are yet available.

If it becomes law, the bill’s impact on artists in the gift and home industries would likely be reduced by the inclusion of an amendment to the Senate version of the bill, which excludes works on useful articles such as coffee mugs, shower curtains and fabrics on furniture.

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Thank you for covering this issue. We who design for the giftware industry are committed to partnering with manufacturers to offer retailers our best, and we are very concerned about what the Orphan Works bill would mean for all of us. As I designer, I subscribe to and read your magazine cover to cover and very much appreciate your coverage of a topic that has seen very little press although it will have a major impact on so many markets. If designers like me are forced out of business because of the repeal of copyright law as we know it, manufacturers and retailers will be harmed as well.

Sharyn Sowell - 2008-07-17 09:15:00 EDT

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