ASMP Supports Orphan Works Bill
By Jonathan Bailey • May 7th, 2008 • Category: Articles, Legal Issues, Orphan Works, Uncategorized
Though one of the organizations that protested against the 2006 version of the orphan works bill, the American Society of Media Photographers, a prominent trade group for members of the photography industry, has thrown its support behind the current version, especially the version currently before the House.
According to the ASMP, the new bill offers much better protections for photographers than the 2006 version and that “the House bill is about as good as photographers are ever going to get.”
They go on to say that:
“If the bill is not passed this year, it will return in the next session of Congress, when at least one of the crucial subcommittees will be under different leadership. Based on the track records of the legislators who are in line for leadership, it is almost certain that they will write legislation that is far less friendly to copyright owners than the current leadership.”
At an ASMP event in April, Vic Perlman, the general council for the organization, gave a talk at one of their forums about the orphan works legislation and why the ASMP supports it. He also gave advice for artists, which closely mirrored my own.
The video is embedded below.
Obviously this kind of support behind the bill greatly increases the chances of passage. It was trade groups such as the ASMP that were largely responsible for the first bill’s death. However, other trade groups, including the Illustrators Partnership of America, Advertising Photographers of America and American Society of Illustrators Partnership, do not share the stance of the ASMP and continue to oppose the legislation strongly.
I will update everyone on the bill as it progresses. However, this will likely be the last item on orphan works for a while, at least until there is progress in the two bills.
Hat tip: Special thanks to Jim M. Goldstein for the heads up.
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Jonathan Bailey is The Webmaster and author of Plagiarism Today, which he founded in 2005 as a way to help Webmasters going through content theft problems get accurate information and stay up to date on the rapidly-changing field. He is also a consultant to Webmasters and companies to help them devise practical content protection strategies and develop good copyright policies.
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The illustrators partnership is fighting tooth and nail against this law.
Since yesterday, over 31, 000 letters have gone out from our Orphan Works advocacy site.
Q: What can we do next?
1. Write the House Judiciary Committee. Weve set up a special alert to contact members of this important committee.
Go to our Take Action/Alert site: http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/
Look for the sample letter labeled “Contact House Judiciary Committee NOW” and send it.
If your Representative is not a member of the House Judiciary Committee, this will send him a message asking him to contact his colleagues on that Committee on your behalf, urging them to oppose the bill.
2. Ask for support from family and friends:
Please ask your friends and family (5 to 10 others) who support your creative work to also go to the site. They can follow the instructions to easily send a message of opposition to this reckless bill.
Look for the sample letter labeled “For Supporters of Visual Artists – Wrong to Weaken Copyright Law” and send it.
3. Spread the word to the public: Photosharing on Web will now be at risk:
Please alert your friends who post photos to the web their personal property will be at risk.
Look for the sample letter labeled For the Image-Making Public – Protect Personal Propertyand send it.
The illustrators partnership is fighting tooth and nail against this law.
Since yesterday, over 31, 000 letters have gone out from our Orphan Works advocacy site.
Q: What can we do next?
1. Write the House Judiciary Committee. Weve set up a special alert to contact members of this important committee.
Go to our Take Action/Alert site: http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/
Look for the sample letter labeled “Contact House Judiciary Committee NOW” and send it.
If your Representative is not a member of the House Judiciary Committee, this will send him a message asking him to contact his colleagues on that Committee on your behalf, urging them to oppose the bill.
2. Ask for support from family and friends:
Please ask your friends and family (5 to 10 others) who support your creative work to also go to the site. They can follow the instructions to easily send a message of opposition to this reckless bill.
Look for the sample letter labeled “For Supporters of Visual Artists – Wrong to Weaken Copyright Law” and send it.
3. Spread the word to the public: Photosharing on Web will now be at risk:
Please alert your friends who post photos to the web their personal property will be at risk.
Look for the sample letter labeled For the Image-Making Public – Protect Personal Propertyand send it.
I don’t have much else I can add but thank you for sharing these resources.
I don’t have much else I can add but thank you for sharing these resources.