The photojournalism community is taking notice of the “Orphan Works Act of 2008″ (H.R. 5889) and voicing its opposition.
Copyright is an important element to the success of a photojournalist or publication in protecting its creative works. “Orphan works” are copyrighted material, but the copyright holder cannot be identified or located.
Essentially, passage of this legislation could open the floodgates to infringement cases on the basis of not knowing or not making a thorough enough effort to contact the creator of the work.
On May 7, National Press Photographers Association President Tony Overman sent a letter to Congressman Howard Berman (D-CA), chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary on the matter.
To read an article by the NPPA with more background on the bill, click here.
If you create visual works and wish to write your representatives, click here.
i too read about this recently, and am alarmed…pretty crazy….will have a major impact on artists past present and future.