The U.S. Senate passed its version of Orphan Works bill, S.2913. It is now in the House of Representatives.
If this bill passes, it will be much easier for someone to declare your art work as an “orphaned work” and sell your work with no compensation to you.
Everything you need to know is here.
Write to your U.S. Representative ASAP.
Find your representative here
or here:
or here:
http://www.house.gov/writerep/
These sites are overwhelmed today so it make take a while to get through.
A sample email is here or after the page break.
Sample email to send to your U.S. Representative (drop the word professional if it doesn’t fit):
Re: Please Oppose S 2913
Dear Mr./Ms. _________
I am one of your constituents, and a professional photographer. There is a movement to try to convince members of the House to abandon the language of the Orphan Works Act of 2008, HR 5889 and to substitute the language of the Senate version, S 2913. It is crucial to the livelihood of photographers and other artists that you oppose this change and that you support HR 5889 as it currently exists. The Senate bill simply does not have sufficient protections for photographers. If the language of the Senate bill becomes law, my business will be severely damaged.
I urge you to retain the language of HR 5889, which currently contains provisions that are critical to protect photographers. These include but are not limited to a notice of use that must be filed before the use is made, upon penalty of losing eligibility to claim orphan work status for failure to file the notice, and an archive of the notices, to be maintained by the Copyright Office or an approved third party.
Thank you for your time. I hope that you will take the necessary actions to protect my interests and prevent the substitution of S 2913 for HR 5889.
Respectfully yours,
(your name)
If you belong to ASMP, send this version:
Re: Please Oppose S 2913
Dear Mr. (or Ms.) ________________________________:
I am one of your constituents, a professional photographer, and a member of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP). There is a movement to try to convince members of the House to abandon the language of the Orphan Works Act of 2008, HR 5889 and to substitute the language of the Senate version, S 2913. It is crucial to my professional livelihood that you oppose this change and that you support HR 5889 as it currently exists. The Senate bill simply does not have sufficient protections for photographers. If the language of the Senate bill becomes law, my business will be severely damaged.
I urge you to retain the language of HR 5889, which currently contains provisions that are critical to protect photographers. These include but are not limited to a notice of use that must be filed before the use is made, upon penalty of losing eligibility to claim orphan work status for failure to file the notice, and an archive of the notices, to be maintained by the Copyright Office or an approved third party.
Please let me know if you have any questions or if I can provide you with any additional information. Thank you for your time. I hope that you will take the necessary actions to protect my interests and prevent the substitution of S 2913 for HR 5889.
Respectfully yours,