There's a LOT of hoopla going on about this but to state the simple facts:

This is a 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.

What the bill does (as stated by www.publicknowledge.org)

* It prohibits injunctions when the user of an orphan work �recasts, transforms, adapts or integrates the [orphan] work with the [user�s] original expression in a new work of authorship�.� This ensures that the publication of transformative works that may include the entirety of an orphan work will not be able to be stopped by a court.
* It requires the Copyright Office to make available information that will help users understand what might constitute a reasonably diligent search.
* The bill makes clear that in determining the �reasonable compensation� an orphan works user must pay should the orphan works owner reappear, the owner has the burden of establishing the amount that a willing buyer and willing seller would have agreed to.
* The bill eliminates a provision that would have required the rules to sunset after 5 years.


While this bill does not "legalize" theft as many are taking it to mean, it does put more emphasis on the registration of the individual's works. If you use "poor man's copyright" for example your work is not protected in court. This bill does not protect users against damages, nor does it provide any safe harbor clauses if an orphaned works' owner appears - e.g. a clause which prohibits any payment if a user immediately ceases using the orphan work when an owner reappears, to apply both to commercial and non-commercial uses.

This obviously has concerns for small artists who work to make profit off their works and especially those who do not have works registered with the copyright office.

The bill is on the fast track and is expected to be in front of the subcommittee this Wednesday. If you disagree with this bill please sign the petition:

[link]

And to get ahead of the game, start getting your arts, writings, etc together for registration at the copyright office:

[link]

It costs a little more than $30 to get a bulk sum of stuff registered. So get to it.