Dear Jonathan,

Thank you for taking the time to consider my perspective (and that of thousands of rightsholders).

I am not sure who you are referring to in the “mainstream media” or how they will “lose”.

Rightsholders take no issue with certified archives, libraries and museums (the ones that hold dusty old books, prints, sculptures, photos, etc. that have been vetted in their collection and not procured by the black market) to make works available for public display for the purpose of cultural heritage preservation.

Sending a clear message to the US, on June 4, 2008, members of the European Union signed a Memorandum of Understanding (basically a law, for all intents and purposes) that is a true Orphan Works legislation.
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/digital_libraries/hleg/hleg_meetings/index_en.htm
“It will help cultural institutions to digitise books, films and music whose authors are unknown, making them available to the public online.”

The bills before Congress are a bait and switch. They claim to be helping dusty, old, esteemed places- you know, the ones with the tall, white pillars- but what they really do is crack open the genie’s bottle so those who’ve already snapped up the domain names for orphan works and vacuumed the internet for every image that every existed there can package it up and make a buck.

Artists’ rights groups that I am associated with have been working on suggested amendments though they are not publicly disclosed at this time. Once they are made public, I would be happy to share that with your readers.

There is no impetus to rush a massive piece of copyright reform stealthily through Congress. This must be slowed down and carefully studied. The Copyright Office never performed a market impact study on those who manage their copyrights. What about the victims of Katrina? Many will never be able to participate in the registries- they have lost their works, their studios, their homes and sadly, many lost their lives. Many victims are unlocatable. Is that any reason to victimize them all over again?

People in Congress are taking note!

It is not inevitable that this bill will pass this session. Rightsholders are making an impact and garnering support for our views. You are right though, that this problem is not going away. The giant corporations (the digital libraries, archives and museums of the 21st century) want to get us pesky copyright holders out of the way so they can digitize our collections (if they haven’t already) and offer them up for a buck.

I hope I have shed some more light on the hidden problems that were crafted into The [Shawn Bentley] Orphan Works Act of 2008.

I highly recommend you
1. Read the bills and the archives at
http://www.illustratorspartnership.org

2. Sign the petition “A Million People Against the Orphan Works Bill”
http://www.petitiononline.com/Stop2913/petition.html

3. Call the capitol hill switchboard at (202) 224-3121
tell your members of Congress why you oppose the bills as written

4. Personalize and send faxes and emails to your members of Congress
the best letters are at: http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/

We CAN make a difference against huge corporations spending countless dollars on this matter. The politicians will listen if enough constituents make some noise. So, please, I urge you all to act now.

Best regards,
Dena Matthews

Dear Jonathan,

Thank you for taking the time to consider my perspective (and that of thousands of rightsholders).

I am not sure who you are referring to in the “mainstream media” or how they will “lose”.

Rightsholders take no issue with certified archives, libraries and museums (the ones that hold dusty old books, prints, sculptures, photos, etc. that have been vetted in their collection and not procured by the black market) to make works available for public display for the purpose of cultural heritage preservation.

Sending a clear message to the US, on June 4, 2008, members of the European Union signed a Memorandum of Understanding (basically a law, for all intents and purposes) that is a true Orphan Works legislation.
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activit…
“It will help cultural institutions to digitise books, films and music whose authors are unknown, making them available to the public online.”

The bills before Congress are a bait and switch. They claim to be helping dusty, old, esteemed places- you know, the ones with the tall, white pillars- but what they really do is crack open the genie’s bottle so those who’ve already snapped up the domain names for orphan works and vacuumed the internet for every image that every existed there can package it up and make a buck.

Artists’ rights groups that I am associated with have been working on suggested amendments though they are not publicly disclosed at this time. Once they are made public, I would be happy to share that with your readers.

There is no impetus to rush a massive piece of copyright reform stealthily through Congress. This must be slowed down and carefully studied. The Copyright Office never performed a market impact study on those who manage their copyrights. What about the victims of Katrina? Many will never be able to participate in the registries- they have lost their works, their studios, their homes and sadly, many lost their lives. Many victims are unlocatable. Is that any reason to victimize them all over again?

People in Congress are taking note!

It is not inevitable that this bill will pass this session. Rightsholders are making an impact and garnering support for our views. You are right though, that this problem is not going away. The giant corporations (the digital libraries, archives and museums of the 21st century) want to get us pesky copyright holders out of the way so they can digitize our collections (if they haven’t already) and offer them up for a buck.

I hope I have shed some more light on the hidden problems that were crafted into The [Shawn Bentley] Orphan Works Act of 2008.

I highly recommend you
1. Read the bills and the archives at
http://www.illustratorspartnership.org

2. Sign the petition “A Million People Against the Orphan Works Bill”
http://www.petitiononline.com/Stop2913/petition…

3. Call the capitol hill switchboard at (202) 224-3121
tell your members of Congress why you oppose the bills as written

4. Personalize and send faxes and emails to your members of Congress
the best letters are at: http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/

We CAN make a difference against huge corporations spending countless dollars on this matter. The politicians will listen if enough constituents make some noise. So, please, I urge you all to act now.

Best regards,
Dena Matthews

<a href="http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/digital_libraries/hleg/hleg_meetings/index_en.htm
“>http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activitie…
"It will help cultural institutions to digitise books, films and music whose authors are unknown, making them available to the public online."The bills before Congress are a bait and switch. They claim to be helping dusty, old, esteemed places- you know, the ones with the tall, white pillars- but what they really do is crack open the genie's bottle so those who've already snapped up the domain names for orphan works and vacuumed the internet for every image that every existed there can package it up and make a buck.Artists' rights groups that I am associated with have been working on suggested amendments though they are not publicly disclosed at this time. Once they are made public, I would be happy to share that with your readers.There is no impetus to rush a massive piece of copyright reform stealthily through Congress. This must be slowed down and carefully studied. The Copyright Office never performed a market impact study on those who manage their copyrights. What about the victims of Katrina? Many will never be able to participate in the registries- they have lost their works, their studios, their homes and sadly, many lost their lives. Many victims are unlocatable. Is that any reason to victimize them all over again? People in Congress are taking note!It is not inevitable that this bill will pass this session. Rightsholders are making an impact and garnering support for our views. You are right though, that this problem is not going away. The giant corporations (the digital libraries, archives and museums of the 21st century) want to get us pesky copyright holders out of the way so they can digitize our collections (if they haven't already) and offer them up for a buck.I hope I have shed some more light on the hidden problems that were crafted into The [Shawn Bentley] Orphan Works Act of 2008.I highly recommend you

1. Read the bills and the archives at

<a href="http://www.illustratorspartnership.org
“>http://www.illustratorspartnership.org

2. Sign the petition "A Million People Against the Orphan Works Bill"

<a href="http://www.petitiononline.com/Stop2913/petition.html
“>http://www.petitiononline.com/Stop2913/petition.h…

3. Call the capitol hill switchboard at (202) 224-3121

tell your members of Congress why you oppose the bills as written4. Personalize and send faxes and emails to your members of Congress

the best letters are at: <a href="http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/
“>http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/

We CAN make a difference against huge corporations spending countless dollars on this matter. The politicians will listen if enough constituents make some noise. So, please, I urge you all to act now.Best regards,

Dena Matthews