Orphan Works Bill.........WTF!!
- Thread starter mickc22
- Start date
ScottRadom
Shogun of Saskatchewan
I dunno, I still don\'t get what all the hue and cry is about.
ScottRadom
Shogun of Saskatchewan
Originally posted by lizcam
lol You just like a good argument, that\'s all.
\'Course I do, I won\'t pretend.
But in an instance like this I\'m just underwhelmed. I\'m no expert but right now there two tiers of American copyright, the automatice free one everyone enjoys and the registered one. Difference being the free one just protects the originator from having other people lay claim and potentially profit by their work. The registered version comes with the added protection of getting compensetory damages from other profiting from your work. I think the guy even mentions it in the clip. Registered copyright holders I think also have the obligation to defend their own copyright as well. I think.
This new proposal would automatically require everyone to go for the same copyright practices and level the playing field. There is a cost... BUT... I am optimistic that a privatized (And therefore competitive) system put in place to register work would be very cheap and likely painless. Maybe even a lot of the work could happen online. The times they are a changin\'.
But wait, with a cost comes a system that favors the wealthy and large corporations and has the little guy at a disadvantage!
So. ALL systems including the current and any future ones are gonna favor the wealthy. From the judicial system to the democratic process money talks, always has and always will.
The audio clip mentions that the new system will make it very easy for Disney etc. to beat you in a court case. I don\'t think this is any different than now.
So unless I am missing something I still just don\'t see what the fuss is about.
Liz, or anyone, if you could please tell me what the direct impact of this bill, as understood now, would affect your day to day lives I am intrigued.
And yes, I sure do love an arguement!
Well since Walmart isn\'t in any sort of business that would be effected by this bill, I don\'t see the relevance. The ethnicity of corporate management is even further afield. But, I guess sometimes it\'s just fun to run around screaming conspiracy theory all of the time.
You\'re absolutely right, that would not be good enough and, as No Such Agency mentioned, this sort of thing would get hashed out in court. Remember, it doesn\'t actually become an issue until a subsequent user has claimed the work is orphaned, makes use of it, and the original author appears. If that subsequent user can\'t demonstrate that they engaged in a good faith search, they can\'t claim the work was orphaned. While I can\'t remember if this is mentioned in the current incarnations of the proposed bills, there has been some suggestion that subsequent users who are about to claim a work is orphaned document the steps of their good faith search.
There\'s a simple reason the government can\'t do that. The U.S. is party to a number of international copyright treaties. One of them requires that a nation not require any \"formalities\" to benefit from copyright protection. Registration would constitute such a formality. Thus, the U.S. cannot mandate registration, free or not, without violating these international treaties - most of which were drafted with European copyright sensibilities in mind. So much for living in \"Amerika\" being the problem.
I apologize if any of my responses have been too pointed, but the orphan works discussion has been circling for a few years now, and the positions taken by recently appearing opponents have become increasingly frustrating. Our copyright system has become so skewed from what it was intended for that to see an honest effort towards a more progressive regime ruined is disheartening. While the typical line concerning copyright and \"big corp\" is that these large companies overzealously protect their IP, to the detriment of society, the opponents of the orphan works bill have successfully argued that \"big corp\" cares nothing about copyright and will steal all of your hard work. I guess in conspiracy land we can have it both ways.
ScottRadom
Shogun of Saskatchewan
Right, but who WILL it affect here directly? What is the bottom line threat to the creative process that seems this bill allegedly threatens?
And while I am a butcher I am actively trying to expand into other markets and business ventures. I really, really want to buy the LGS or possibly open an online store in cooperation with a couple other people and if this bill is a clear and present danger to the mini painting community in America -which usually hits the globe as well- then I wouldn\'t mind being a little more informed on the facts and opinions.
But you\'re right it\'s for sure not an immediate threat to myself or my personal or professional life.
And while I am a butcher I am actively trying to expand into other markets and business ventures. I really, really want to buy the LGS or possibly open an online store in cooperation with a couple other people and if this bill is a clear and present danger to the mini painting community in America -which usually hits the globe as well- then I wouldn\'t mind being a little more informed on the facts and opinions.
But you\'re right it\'s for sure not an immediate threat to myself or my personal or professional life.
Bigdennis52
New member
SWEET! The government found a way to get our economy back on boad! GO Saint Obama! lol
Well, for instance, im an illustration/advertising major. So, if i understand this bill correctly, i could have my portfolio posted online(which alot of people do) and it could end up in the hands of a major corperation, that could basically just snatch it up because they like it. Basically, all the work that i have, would not be safe to post in a public place (the internet). Which, in the long run would lessen my exposure to people looking for work. On the otherside, in the states, espically in public schools, the arts (music, art, theater...) are the first things to get cut in schools when budgets get re-worked. This is basically another step away from creative freedom...
ScottRadom
Shogun of Saskatchewan
Originally posted by Recoil889
Well, for instance, im an illustration/advertising major. So, if i understand this bill correctly, i could have my portfolio posted online(which alot of people do) and it could end up in the hands of a major corperation, that could basically just snatch it up because they like it. Basically, all the work that i have, would not be safe to post in a public place (the internet). Which, in the long run would lessen my exposure to people looking for work. On the otherside, in the states, espically in public schools, the arts (music, art, theater...) are the first things to get cut in schools when budgets get re-worked. This is basically another step away from creative freedom...
Well yeah, that does suck a ton. That certainly does make things awful for those in the digital art world. Youch.
Well.... perhaps a way of registering pieces through a third party website may happen. It`s a thought. Like having a CMON account where you post your art, and the people register them as they go up....? If there was a subscription fee (small) to that kind of service, maybe that would be a possibility?
But yes, I can totally sympathize with how a bill like this would impact your business. Hmmm. If this bill passes, what\'s a solution for this particular predicament?
Originally posted by Recoil889
Well, for instance, im an illustration/advertising major. So, if i understand this bill correctly, i could have my portfolio posted online(which alot of people do) and it could end up in the hands of a major corperation, that could basically just snatch it up because they like it. Basically, all the work that i have, would not be safe to post in a public place (the internet). Which, in the long run would lessen my exposure to people looking for work. On the otherside, in the states, espically in public schools, the arts (music, art, theater...) are the first things to get cut in schools when budgets get re-worked. This is basically another step away from creative freedom...
I don\'t want to seem as if I am jumping up and down screaming for people to pay attention to me, but did you happen to check out the link that I posted earlier Recoil? The various incarnations of the bills are available on that site, so you can read the text directly and gain a definite understanding of how they could affect you.
However, in the example you noted, where you have a gallery of your work posted online, there is no way a corporation or anybody else could nab a piece of your work, claim it was orphaned, and get to freely use it. For starters, seeing as how you have a gallery that you maintain, this wouldn\'t be a situation where the provenance of the work in question was unknown. Thus, a subsequent user would be hard pressed to prove that they engaged in a good faith search. Second, even if they could successfully claim the work was orphaned, they\'re obligated to pay you a fair market rate to license the use of the work. And the term \"license\" is key here, as you, as the creator, don\'t actually lose any rights to your work whatsoever. While that subsequent user may be using your work, they are doing so under license, and it in no way allows others to freely ride on your hard work.
CC is nothing more than a formalized means of creating licensing agreements between content creators and content users, so their services are not immediately applicable to this issue.
However, it could be argued that using a CC licensing scheme on your work, and thus being added to the database of CC licensed works, actually makes that work more easily findable, which would again weigh against a subsequent user claiming that the author couldn\'t be found during a good faith search and thus the work was orphaned. Generally, raising the exposure of a work via any means will weigh against a claim that it has been orphaned.
havockrising
New member
i want to shred politicians, can them, and sell them as corned beef :evil:
