From Congressman Michael H. Michaud:
Dear Lisa:
Thank you for contacting me regarding H.R. 5889, the Orphan Works Act of 2008. I appreciate hearing from you.
As you know, the U.S. Copyright Office has published a "Report on Orphan Works" which calls for legislative action to limit liability for the use of works in which the copyright owner cannot be found as long as a reasonable search for the owner has been performed. The report and proposed legislative action supports provisions for situations in which copyright owners raise notice after the use of their work becomes known. However, in some instances, when copyright infringement is made without commercial advantage and the user ceases infringement promptly after receiving notice, no monetary relief would be available to the original artist.
As Congress considers the issue of "orphan works," and in particular the Orphan Works Act, it is important to balance the well-established rights of artists and others who create works with the innovation of thought and art that comes with the free flow of information and ideas. (Information and ideas are freely shared everyday. Once they are fixed in a tangible form of expression they are no longer free, and the artist has every right to profit from his/her labor. Slavory is dead. Innovation is something that 'we the people' have always had plenty of and if corporate America wants it, they'll have to pay. It's called the law of supply and demand -look it up!)
On April 24, 2008, H.R. 5889 was referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. Please know that I will keep your thoughtful comments in mind as this bill continues through the legislative process.
Thank you again for sharing your views with me. (Now for a word from our sponsor.) In addition, I also provide occasional email updates on a range of issues affecting people in Maine. If you would like to receive this information, please visit my website at http://michaud.house.gov/email_newsletter.asp and sign up for my email newsletter. I appreciate the opportunity to represent you.
With warmest regards,
Michael H. Michaud
Member of Congress
Now my turn:
Dear Congressman,
I'm glad you mentioned the Copyright Offices Report, I read the entire 205 pages of it and find it shocking that this bill is a result of a report that clearly states, ". . . about 40% of the comments [we received] did not identify an instance in which someone could not locate a copyright owner, and another large portion identified situations that were clearly not orphan work situations."
The report also states, "We believe that the focus on developing legislative text to address orphan works should not obscure the fact that the Copyright Act and the marketplace for copyrighted works provide several alternatives to a user who is frustrated by the orphan works situation."
I do realize that there are situations where libraries and museums would greatly benefit from the limitations in H.R. 5889 specifically in the case of displaying historically significant works, however at the moment there is no such wording in the bill. As a matter of fact the intention of this bill and the actual wording could not be further apart.
I would greatly appreciate you taking the time to actually read the bill because you will see that the ridiculously vague definition of 'Orphan' would accidentally include all of the family photos posted on the Internet. I doubt anyone would appreciate having their child's photo used in the next public awareness campaign and I know they're not going to appreciate finding out that you've legislated away their right to damages above and beyond a reasonable licensing fee.
If the bill is intended to provide relief for libraries and museums wishing to display works of historical significance or to allow for the restoration and preservation of such works, then I don't think it's asking too much to have that wording included in the bill. Senator Leahy seems prone to thinking our judges are allowed to interpret his intentions but that has already backfired once!
You might find that my phone interview with Senator Leahy's aide exposes more than a few discrepancies:
Sincerely,
Lisa Sage
Well I have to admit, for about five seconds, I was very happy with myself. That's about how long it took me to surf over to the Washington Post's Congressional Voting database and find out that Congressman Michaud lets the Democratic party do his thinking for him 96.3% of the time. Because this bill is being sponsored by Democrates in both the House and the Senate it seems I've waste my breath and time.