Senate Orphan Works bill S.2913 was passed.

[Aahx]

I know we don't want political dicussions on this forum (new forum rules), but this potentialy affects our livelyhood, and could directly affect our art. And is simply too important not to pass on. More info can be found here:

http://www.asmp.org/news/spec2008/orphan_update.php

[Daniel_Buck]

I guess not enough people wrote in their complaints about the proposal :-(

The reply I got was "Thanks, I'll keep it in consideration" or there abouts.

[Frank Petronio]

sneaky bastards, that sucks

[domenico Foschi]

I guess it's time to strip the Net naked of images.
They kept going at it over and over again.
For the people, by the people....whatever.
After these weeks financial news, yesterday television show of 6 pm PST that was a total insult to people who use their brain for what they are meant for and this fuc...g bill I am one step closer to go in a Country where there is so much corruption that they are their lowest level ever and they have nowhere to go from this point than higher.

[QT Luong]

Dan Heller has a well-argued view that the bill will not be as detrimental as often claimed in discussions amongst photographers: http://danheller.blogspot.com (Aug 28, Aug 13, May 14)

[Gordon Moat]

http://ipaorphanworks.blogspot.com/2...nect-dots.html

What is wrong with the current system? Why do legislators feel that they need to fix anything? Just leave us with what we already have as laws.

Quite simply, if the Legislature in the US more clearly defined Fair Use, then those who want a Fair Use without profit potential would be cleared to pursue their needs. There is a cost to every US taxpayer to implement Orphan Works Legislation. There is potential profit for a handful of companies.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat Photography

[The Dread Pirate Robins]

The definition of an orphan work, as I found on the site posted above by the OP, is "an "orphan work" is a work (such as an image) that is protected by copyright but whose copyright owner cannot be identified and located." (Source: http://www.asmp.org/news/spec2008/orphan_update.php)

That's a loophole you could drive a truck through, loaded down, of course, with tons of "orphan" images. I think that is what should concern us the most. It puts the onus on the image creator to not let his/her images get out of arm's reach. This just tears the whole thing wide open.

Also, I can see another potential effect. Those seeking photos for commercial purposes can simply go find "orphan" works and not pay for photos from image creators, such as photographers.

[Gordon Moat]

Potentially it could kill the stock photography market, due to the huge volume of content that could suddenly become available. However, Getty and Corbis seem interested in this, so they could potentially gather up more content to offer at low (competing?) costs to the end users. That is just one scenario.

Google and Microsoft have shown future technology that ties images sourced from the internet to display multiple views of locations, things, and people. Such technology could be sold directly to end users as new software and technology, or be used to increase views and place advertisements (since Google largely thrives on ad revenues). Google and Yahoo have already been through litigation in the past for their search engines bringing up image content, and how they display or use that content. The dual potentials of decreased legal fees and increased revenues would greatly benefit these companies in the long run.

In the rush to register any content that might be within view of the public, the US government, and the companies managing the proposed database, stand to generate huge revenues. The big question of how to pay for more federal employees, future bail-outs, and other US government spending needs could be offset by the increased revenues. Limits on liability and litigation also free up the US courts, which could speed up other cases, and save some expenditures.

Basically, there is lots of money involved, and those who create content and IP (intellectual property) are on the bottom of the list. About the only challenge I see to this, if it gets passed, is to pool together resources to put a Constitutional challenge upon this Bill. Such a challenge would be lengthy and costly, with results possibly not occurring for many many many years.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat Photography