Attention Artists and Musicians!! (The Orphan works Bill)

How You May Lose All the Rights to Every Piece of Art You Have Ever made and created! This is a must watch!

CORPORATE THEFT - THE ORPHAN WORKS BILL

YOU NEED TO LISTEN TO THIS because you are about to lose your copyright protection. Every one of you needs to stand up and be heard in order to protect what we have all created.

As an artist and musician this is something we must keep an eye upon!
This is within congress right now! And could serve to steal all of our lives work in a single stroke of a pen!

Im hoping to bring awareness to ATS here with this most imporant video.
I know we have plenty of artists on here, and many writters.. Everything we post online would be up for grabs unless you want to pay to keep what you create.

The 2008 Orphan Works Act has been released to Congress, S 2913 The Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008.
www.youtube.com...

[edit on 27-5-2008 by zysin5]

Late yesterday afternoon, Lamar Smith (R-TX), Chair of the House Subcommittee on Court, Internet and Intellectual Property introduced HR 5439, the Orphan Works Act of 2006. The bill, which seeks to limit liability for artists, educators and others who make a “reasonably diligent search” to find a copyright holder but cannot, is a significant improvement over the draft bill proposed by the Copyright Office in February. Here are some of the changes we like:

Source link

are you in your right mind? because this is not right at all. you’re giving thieves an excuse. do you know how it feels after you work hard on something for dfays /weeks/months etc.. and you post it somewhere … and then someone just takes it ans says it’s his ?--- Sumbited by arahan.

My comments on this is ten fold.. I have alot of work out there. And I have already paided my copy right fees. They expect me to pay them agin for my own work!!!

This is just another way the big guys with all the money CRUSH us little guys and take what we have.

What our money isnt good enough for them???
Now they want to come after our mental work! Some of the work Ive done has taken me years to finish.. Then these guys step in and sign a paper and I lose all my work unless Im ready to come up with some more cash for them..

I DONT have the money to pay for all my work.. There so much of it out there right now Im screwed if this bills passes..

Many of you that have put much work into your art knows how personal this is.. And now these Thugs are going to take this too!
When does the maddness end?

YOU NEED TO LISTEN TO THIS because you are about to lose your copyright protection. Every one of you needs to stand up and be heard in order to protect what we have all created.

Orphan Works

[edit on 26-5-2008 by zysin5]

They tried this once before back in 2006. And it never got threw. But this time its new and improved, and has small writting that is written even smaller this time around!

The Orphan Works Bill Rears Its Ugly Head Again

Although the 2006 proposal never passed the Committee's review, new legislation is underway. The House Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property held a "Hearing on Promoting the Use of Orphan Works: Balancing the Interests of Copyright Owners and Users" on March 13, 2008. You may view it on the Subcommittee's website. Further, ASMP is reporting on the status of the bill regularly.

Because photographers' rights may be dramatically affected, keep advised of the bill's status. It's usually easier to keep rights than to try to get them back.

TAKE ACTION: DON’T LET CONGRESS ORPHAN YOUR WORK !!!

While I will leave the link for that out.. You can still do your own searches online to find more information about this Bill.

If you do anything that has to do with ART.. You should be aware of this Bill.
Thats all Mediums!! which includes photographs!!

A simple Google Search will take you here



[edit on 26-5-2008 by zysin5]

I'm not american, but this is truley scary to any artist. Basically if you produce a lot of work (as I do) then it would cost a small fortune to register it all. The digital art world is already up in arms about this and I'm sure quite a few artists of many types will have something to say about it here.

I know a couple of artists who have had work stolen and used by major PC hardware manufactures for box cover art and thats NOW.... an its legal hell getting them to admit they stole what in many cases is known and popular digital art pieces. So imagine how bad its going to get!

Some small company that makes graphics card using a popular chipset could rip off a bit of art and argue because they are based in china (or any other country) and as it didn't show up in their fav search engine that they did a 'reasonable search'. If they want to make many artists hide in the shadows and never share their work there are sure going the right way about it.

So lets pretend that I hit on lucky one night and doodle out a great 3d character ...a games company steals it and it becomes the next 'lara croft'..how much would I get?...not a penny.... Tell me thats fair.... but yet again no one said life was supposed to be fair.

I'm intrsted to know that as the USA is where the majority of the servers are for many, many art and digital art sites, does this mean any art posted on a forum or site on a USA server is subject to these draconian laws as well? Its something I'm interested to find out.


Wayne...

Shunt.

This line here because, because, because because...

reply to post by the secret web


This will become not only a problem for all Artist in America.. But this Bill will go Global!!!

Thats the master plan behind this bill.. Is to get its foot in the door here.
And move onto the world!

Yes I much like you have too much work to pay to copyright this stuff under this bills terms!!

Like I said before.. They can steal our lives passion, and get away with it scott free.. As they have the money to back it up.. We do not.

Those with the money make the rules, make more money, and steal everything from those with less..

Funny how those with less can make something of extream beauty.. Only to have the big Wigs come in and steal that beauty, and put their name on it. And sell it for the highest dollar.. Sickening!!

That is totally aginst the grain of what ART truely is!!!

Nothing worse than a man who will steal others Art and claim it as their own.. What RATS!!!

And yes when a big company steals your artwork.. If you dont have the money to sue.. What you gonna do really? NOthing you are going to take it laying down..
And just make another piece of art and move on with your life..

Not this time Jack.. We must stand up to these Crooks before they get it all!

Thats a disgrace, as a musician myself it's so hard to make money these days especially with everyone sharing everything on the internet illegally anyway, but with this also, will just about put most people out of business.

It's just another way of taking things away from people, it's never ending!

The rich get richer and poor stay poor. They are trying to squeeze off the little
artists that are trying to make it big. I am a musician myself from Canada and this is an outrage! All these b/s bills being passed off in America and pretty soon probably here in Canada. I hope it gets thrown out!

Star and Flag for bringing this up.

As an artist, I'm floored by this, though I'll reserve comment until after I take a closer look.

You can watch the actual hearing before the House of Representatives Committee by clicking this link:

Oversight Hearing

Holy crap!!! Anyone else remembering the Marijuana Stamp Act all over again?!?

As soon as this gets passed (if it does), every corporation that has been paying royalty fees get to stop payment. As soon as this gets passed, those artists that are living off of royalties will be insta-broke (minus monies they've saved up, of course). As a musician AND an artist, this seriously pisses me off!!!

D.C. will probably be looking at a full-out invasion and rally by artists as soon as this passes (if it does). Musicians and artists generally aren't ones to conform to corprate misconduct, although we are generally some of the most peaceful and understanding types. Guess this is definitly one way to incite a revolution to bring about a police state and marshall law.

(reserving choice words for a more appropriate time)

You know, I was just thinking...

Under this law, if a corporation decides to snatch up the picture of ME (my current avatar) off the internet, and license it, that would also give them the right to come into my house and take the original right off my wall because it would be THEIRS, would it not?

What about the people, as I mentioned earlier, that are getting paid royalties for their artwork? It's going to be a race to license their art before the corporation or business they've been receiving payments from do it first. I bet the corporations will even have their OWN licensing departments installed just for that... some of the bigger ones are probably organizing this right now, just so they can license in-house before the artist can even find a place, much less come up with the money for it!

Like supplies aren't expensive enough... jeez! I've known alot of artists who spend $10 for some good crescent illustration board, $5-$20 PER TUBE for acrylic, $5-30 per brush, and only end up getting $50 for their piece after commission. Not to mention the 2 or 3 days they spent on it. This is common for artists just starting out. Say goodbye to your dreams!

This law probably also encompasses writers as well... you can imagine on your own how this would affect independent writers!

Thank you everyone who is helping me get the word out.
This is not the first time this bill has come around. And if it gets denied its not the death of this bill either. They will always rewrite and make the fine print even smaller next time around until they get it all from us !

They wont stop at our SS money. They wont stop at taxes.. They are comming after everything we own, and everything we make! And they wont stop until they get it all from us!

Word of mouth, and tell everyone you know! This affects pros and amatures alike! Even if you just like taking pictures with your camera and post online. The pics will no longer belong to you. If you write a poem, and post it online, it will no longer be your poem, unless you pay a price to lay claim to your own work!!

Agin many thanks! Im going out of town for a few days, could be weeks.
Help me, help you by keeping this thread alive!
I will be doing my part by word of mouth, and making flyers up!

We have to be steadfast! Artists are the wrong folks to mess with like this.
We are very creative! And cherish our work above many things in this world.
Messing with my art is like messing with my child!
My art is my passion, and my music is my release! I dont want them taking the fun out of what I do.
I dont do this to make money. I never have..
And I will be damn sure that some suit doesnt turn around and make millions off something I did for my own good measure.
Art to me is a temple, and should be respected !
But these suits have no respect!

Keep this thread alive! And many thanks to those of you who will take the time and look further into this. Share the knowledge and stand up for our rights!!!

Most my artist folks are night owls so I wanted to give this one last bump for the evening..

Under this law, if a corporation decides to snatch up the picture of ME (my current avatar) off the internet, and license it, that would also give them the right to come into my house and take the original right off my wall because it would be THEIRS, would it not?

From what I read, yes thats the deal. You post your art online. Even with a copy right, they now own it as their rightful property that they now own.
And you can then lease your artwork back from them.
However its still unclear the details of what happens next.
Either way they are going to get paided for what you did.

They are going to charge you money, so that you can have the rights to your own artwork. Otherwise they can inturn, sell your art to logo companies, or marketing companies for profit. which is 300% profit to them, as they didnt have to put any work into it.
Well they had to spend millions of dollars in legal fees to get this bill passed, but with the money they have, its a great investment!!

And even more scary, I was talking to my friend about this.. I told him. the bottom line.. He was like, thats not to bad.. That will protect your artwork even more than a copy right..

Im like no man.. If you cant come up with the cash, then you lose your work! And it becomes their work. And they have the people to sell this stuff too..
When a guy like you or me, couldnt make lots of money off something we did becasue we dont have the resources to put our work out there!

They have the resources to market our own work to the masses!
When we only have a small pool of people we can try to either sell our work to. Or just show off and say hey look what I did.. What you think?

This isnt about saying how great something is.. Nor is this about the passion. Its about money.. And greed.. And taking everything they see as real value.
As most of you know.. Cash is not money.. Its debt.
Why get paper cash when its worthless..
They want art! As thats worth something in trade value!

Art is something that is beyond paper money.. Our artwork is not debt.
Our artwork is value. And they want it.. And will stop at nothing to gain as much value as they can grab out of our hands.

I will look deeper into this, as I dont want to spew mis-information.
But as far as I know thats what I am reading into this.

There's a way to keep close track of this, even as it passes through the various stages Congress (this & every other piece of legislation too!):

GovTrack.US even allows you to pick & choose which legislation that you want to put a "tracker" on & also provides summary-text as well as full-text. BTW, registering at the website is free...

The particular page for S 2913: Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008 is now officially linked here at ATS! Have at 'em!


[edit on 27-5-2008 by MidnightDStroyer]

The artists,writers, and philosophers are the ones that influence people to think outside the box.

This is yet another attempt by lobbyists for Big Business and the powers that be who control Big Business, Govt, and in turn humans, to crush any opposing or revolutionary thouhtforms that threaten the status quo, and therefore threatens their power their power.

Shoot the messenger right after he writes,paints,strums,sings, sculpts, builds, or photographs his message... then steal his message and warp it in order to make it work for the benefit of greed and power.

Ok, this bill is sponsored by Sen. Patrick Leahy [D-VT], and co-sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch [R-UT]...

At the risk of sounding ignorant... why the hell does that name sound familiar, and why does it invoke images of Napster, Bob Rock, Metallica (Lars), and the RIAA? Wiki didn't tell me a damned thing about him, really... other than he tried pulling some crap concerning censorship and piracy before.

Orrin Hatch - Wiki

Hatch caused an overnight controversy on June 17, 2003 by proposing that copyright owners should be able to destroy the computer equipment and information of those suspected of copyright infringement, including file sharing. In the face of criticism, especially from technology and privacy advocates, Hatch withdrew his suggestion days later, after it was discovered that Sen. Hatch's official website was using an unlicensed JavaScript menu from United Kingdom based software developer Milonic Solutions. Milonic founder Andy Woolley stated that "We've had no contact with them. They are in breach of our licensing terms." Shortly after the publication of that story in Wired magazine, the company who runs Hatch's website contacted Milonic to start registration.

One year later, he proposed the controversial INDUCE Act that attempted to make illegal all tools that could be used for copyright infringement. According to many critics, this act would effectively outlaw the Internet and personal computers, giving unprecedented legal leverage to media companies.

I mean... seriously? The other thing Wiki says is that he is a recording artist himself.

I could've sworn this guy was linked to the RIAA somehow...

Its almost like they want all art music and anything creative to be under coporate control. You can't have art that says something if its controlled by coca cola/ dell etc etc!

Art comes from within and lives and breathes its a way each artist can help change the moods and rections , and in some case thoughts of the viewer or listener.

So take away the, music, the painting, the stories, the poems, the sculptures...and what sort of a world do you have left? Tell me thats a life worth living, a one that would give you the same ammount of joy as experienceing your favorite art. We'd end up just like one big factory.... Good god we can't have creative people walking against the damn flow and thinking outside the box! How dare we do that?lol

I've yet to meet another artist that 'conforms', we are all subversives in our own way. I'll always walk against the flow of life and try in some small way to show people that you can think outside the box..in fact throw the damn box away altogether!

Artist and musicians may not appear very 'useful' to many in the world, but without them there would be no music, no interesting cartoon or illustrations. No creature and monster designs in movies... do you want to live in a world that borring? I dont.......art is the voice of freedom.

Wayne...

[edit on 27/5/2008 by the secret web]

reply to post by the secret web


i like your avitar, when this bill comes through i think i'll register it. i don't care that its taken someone, possibly you, years of honing eye and hand and brain so that twists of the imagination can be expressed in such detail, i want it. don't care that there was pain in its birth, your pain means nothing to me.

this bill is evil.

This is seriously F*cked up.... I used to do 3d art... I have a few things out on the Internet.. This sucks.. They get all this art for free.....

This isn't right... Think of all the other people who do 3d art or draw or whatever as a hobby and show it off on the Internet..

Like exp: GTA community... they make cars and whatever to add into a game so they can have more fun with it.. anyway they spend months weeks or something to have fun in a game.. they make the item they slave over it.. Its there..

What tf ever happened to intellectual properties...

God this pisses me off...

I'm an artist and I find this absolutely terrible. I emailed my state representatives about this.

This better not pass