The Orphan Works Bill

[fatso784]

This is directly related to all artists on this forum. If this bill passes Congress, artists will lose the rights to their own work. READ:


As you know, I usually handle the subjects in my articles with a sense of humor. That is not the case this month. I find nothing funny about the new Orphan Works legislation that is before Congress.

In fact, it PISSES ME OFF!
As an artist, you have to read this article or you could lose everything you've ever created! An Orphaned Work is any creative work of art where the artist or copyright owner has released their copyright, whether on purpose, by passage of time, or by lack of proper registration. In the same way that an orphaned child loses the protection of his or her parents, your creative work can become an orphan for others to use without your permission.





If the Orphan Works legislation passes, you and I and all creatives will lose virtually all the rights to not only our future work but to everything we've created over the past 34 years, unless we register it with the new, untested and privately run (by the friends and cronies of the U.S. government) registries. Even then, there is no guarantee that someone wishing to steal your personal creations won't successfully call your work an orphan work, and then legally use it for free.
In short, if Congress passes this law, YOU WILL LOSE THE RIGHT TO MAKE MONEY FROM YOUR OWN CREATIONS!
Why is this allowed to happen? APATHY and MONEY. Artists have apathy and corporations have money.


The full article is over here. (http://mag.awn.com/?ltype=%20pageone&article_no=3605)

If you are an artist, I HIGHLY suggest reading it, as this could HEAVILY affect your future careers. No, this isn't a late April Fools joke, its real. This is why I hate the US Government.

[Kornman00]

America, Fuck Yeah![/sarcasm]

[Sel]

WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS BULLSHIT?

What about Canada, would we be affected by this too?

[rossmum]

Hi guys your country is fucked up.

Love,

Australia.

[Sel]

Hi guys your country is fucked up.

Love,

Australia.

lol'd

[Aerowyn]

Well that makes me feel depressed. :(

[Kornman00]

Hi guys your country is fucked up.

Love,

Australia.
hey guys! remember that time when we whoop'd australia's ass :haw:?

gta reference, l2rockstar

[CN3089]

This legislation has failed three times before by the way




also it's like one dollar every ten years who cares http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c251/CN3089/Emoticons/emot-geno.gif

[rossmum]

This legislation has failed three times before by the way




also it's like one dollar every ten years who cares http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c251/CN3089/Emoticons/emot-geno.gif
FOURTH TIME LUCKY

:downs:

[Tweek]

stop sucking america, gosh!

[Bad Waffle]

I'm moving to ireland.

[ExAm]

stop sucking american government, gosh!
Fixed. Please don't generalize about my country.

[itszutak]

The article, at least to me, seems like a mix of steam and anger.

Do they have a link to the proposal? I really don't feel like supporting something like this without any base. :/

also

This legislation has failed three times before by the way

[Pooky]

YEAH FUCK AMERICANS

Oh wait D:

[TeeKup]

BULLSHIT.

[Bodzilla]

Hi guys your country is fucked up.

Love,

Australia.
mofo beat me to it fo show.

but what the fuck america. seriously.

[Agamemnon]

Hi guys your country is fucked up.

Love,

Australia.
How's that education system working out for you. :downs:

[paladin]

teh Geh...

[n00b1n8R]

How's that education system working out for you. :downs:
Pretty good Fagamemnon. :downs:

[rossmum]

How's that education system working out for you. :downs:
Yeah pretty awesomely. Or at least it would be if I actually gave a shit about my course anymore.

[ICEE]

hey guys! remember that time when we whoop'd australia's ass :haw:?

gta reference, l2rockstar


Oh you mean always?


But seriously, what is this bullshit? I'm moving to Canada.

[Bodzilla]

Yeah pretty awesomely. Or at least it would be if I actually gave a shit about my course anymore.
your only like 3 months in.

Wtf?

[rossmum]

Parents persuaded me not to take a gap year so I could actually think about what I wanted to do. I'm skipping shit to skin and model instead, just like I thought I might end up doing.

[Bodzilla]

well there ya go.
weird how these things work out eh. So does this mean those concepts sketches you made will get greater depth and story behind them to the point where you actually have a game mapped out in your head?

[rossmum]

I've been working on some of them for 7+ months, so yeah.

[Bodzilla]

looking forward to it :)

keep me in the loop eh ;)

[Agamemnon]

Pretty good Fagamemnon. :downs:
ydgi


Yeah pretty awesomely. Or at least it would be if I actually gave a shit about my course anymore.
Oh, really? I thought all of your classes were balls-to-the-wall boring. By the way, how much are you paying for each semester? And how much is your government willing to help you with payment?

[rossmum]

They're boring to me because half the work is introductory and therefore basic, but they rush through the new stuff and change everything around. What isn't stuff I already know is stuff I really don't care much about. Right now I care more about my art.

I think it's something like $5,000 for the whole 3 years, not including textbooks (around $700/semester). I wouldn't know shit about government help because I don't understand money at all and as a result, dad handles all that bullshit.

[Sel]

first off, for those of you who requested background versions of my last submission 'morning to night', i posted them here. enjoy

now, regarding all the chaos over the internet's late discovery of the "orphan works act".

for those of you who don't know, the orphan works act is legislation that would allow artwork whose creators cannot be located to be more easily released to public domain. now, this isn't a good thing at all and makes it easier for con-artists and thieves to do their work, but for god's sake people - do some research.

first of all, this legislation never passed into law. they've tried twice and failed.

the last time was in 2005. it sat around and died less than a year later (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:HR05439:@@@X). yes, that's right. it's been sitting around collecting dust and no one has done anything about it for 3 years.


that is until some uppity moron (http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=Columns&column=MindBiz&article_no=3605) at Animation World Magazine thought it would be a bright idea to bring it up without doing his homework. not only is he drawing unnecessary attention to defunct legislation, but he is also lying to you. you do NOT hold a copyright simply by posting work on the internet and calling it your own, nor would this legislation change that. for over a century, you have to file with the government to make copyright. if you feel it is necessary to protect yourself in this manner, it's easy to do so (http://www.copyright.gov/register/visual.html). these copyrights would mean the same whether or not orphan works would pass or not.

all AWM and those of you who have been yapping to everyone about the bill are only harming the animation and art community by drawing attention to legislation that has been tossed aside in the heap of bureaucracy. you are doing yourselves no favors by informing people how to protect themselves from non-existent law. so let it die, and hopefully it won't be re-introduced to the house.

do not send letters to congressmen or US representatives. they will have no idea what you are talking about

Quote from DA

[fatso784]

I thought the article seemed rather fishy...:lie:

[Agamemnon]

They're boring to me because half the work is introductory and therefore basic...
Welcome to your first semester at college.

[rossmum]

Yeah well, fuck that shit. I'd rather be working on my art, which is what I really wanted to do in the first place.

[Pooky]

looking forward to it :)

keep me in the loop eh ;)

^

You never say hi anymore ross. We've grown so distant :saddowns:

[rossmum]

:smith:

I usually just ignore chat when I'm trying to work on something these days.

That said, I'm still way too easily dist- what's that?

[Emmzee]

Hi guys your country is fucked up.

Love,

Australia.
At least we have more claims to fame than Men at Work and AC/DC.

[klange]

you do NOT hold a copyright simply by posting work on the internet and calling it your own
That statement is false. According to US (and I believe, international) copyright law, you hold exclusive rights to anything you create upon its creation unless those rights are explicitly held by another party (such as an employer - most companies require you to give up your rights when you are employed by them). There is a long list of items which must be specifically registered with the government and present in some form in the Library of Congress (yep) to be considered copy-protected. It covers virtually everything in print form. However, most everything on the Internet does not fall under this category. It's more of a loophole than anything else, but you do own the copyright. You can, of course, submit said items to the government's copyright and patent offices for further protection, but it is in no way needed for things like website content and programs.