Orphan Works is Back! Immediate Help Needed from ALL Artists by 7/23/15!

Calling all artists: your letter-writing skills are needed by July 23, 2015!

Return of the Son of the Orphan Works Act
July 17th, 2015

Are you all as sick of hearing about the “Orphan Works Act” and the continuing resurfacing of attacks on the copyrights of artists and other creators as I am? They keep on getting squashed by lawmakers but keep on coming back in another form or with subtle changes. It eventually becomes so repetitive that artists just roll their eyes and ignore it.

That’s the battle plan of the people that want to destroy your ability to earn a living from the work you have created and allow others to earn money from your work instead. Apathy. Keep throwing it at us until we just get tired of swinging the bat, and then when we wake up again we find we’ve already struck out.

Don’t let that happen. These proposed changes to copyright laws are being lobbied for by major internet players that want to be free to catalog and monetize creative works they did not create. Don’t let them. Read this and make your voice heard:

Artists Alert: From the Illustrators Partnership
The Return of Orphan Works
Part 1: "The Next Great Copyright Act"
JULY 1, 2015

For more than a year Congress has been holding hearings for the drafting of a brand new US Copyright Act. At its heart is the return of Orphan Works.

Twice, Orphan Works Acts have failed to pass Congress because of strong opposition from visual artists, spearheaded by the Illustrators Partnership.

Because of this, the Copyright Office has now issued a special call for letters regarding the role of visual art in the coming legislation.

Therefore we're asking all artists concerned with retaining the rights to their work to join us in writing.
When and Where

Deadline: July 23, 2015

You can submit letters online to the Copyright Office here .

Read the Copyright Office Notice of Inquiry .

Read the 2015 Orphan Works and Mass Digitization Report .

Here are the Basic Facts

• "The Next Great Copyright Act" would replace all existing copyright law.
• It would void our Constitutional right to the exclusive control of our work.
• It would "privilege" the public's right to use our work.
• It would "pressure" you to register your work with commercial registries.
• It would "orphan" unregistered work.
• It would make orphaned work available for commercial infringement by "good faith" infringers.
• It would allow others to alter your work and copyright these "derivative works" in their own names.
• It would affect all visual art: drawings, paintings, sketches, photos, etc.; past, present and future; published and unpublished; domestic and foreign.

Background
The demand for copyright "reform" has come from large Internet firms and the legal scholars allied with them. Their business models involve supplying the public with access to other people's copyrighted work. Their problem has been how to do this legally and without paying artists.