Legeslation FAIL -- Orphan Works

Evelyn · **Posted:** April 11th, 2008, 10:27 pm

Excerpt from article wrote:

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.

Basically anything you create will be free for any business/organization/etc. to use without your consent or your notification.

Therefore, THE GOVERNMENT WANT TO PROMOTE ART THEFT.

The only way to get rights to YOUR OWN WORK is to register an official copyright!

Adbot · **Posted:** April 11th, 2008, 10:27 pm

murdererdood · **Posted:** April 12th, 2008, 1:35 am

Cliff Dude wrote:

The only way to get rights to YOUR OWN WORK is to register an official copyright!

I don't see the problem. Surely that's just common sense?

I can't wait to hear the cries of anguished 13 year old "artists" on Deviantart, though.

Evelyn · **Posted:** April 12th, 2008, 1:40 am

Not really. If you made it, it's up to you to decide who can do what with it.

murdererdood · **Posted:** April 13th, 2008, 8:54 am

If you make something, and put it on the internet without any form of copyright or trademark, you're asking for it to be stolen.

Mushroom Queen · **Posted:** April 13th, 2008, 11:48 am

murdererdood wrote:

If you make something, and put it on the internet without any form of copyright or trademark, you're asking for it to be stolen.

He's right. If you don't bother putting a (c) near your work or watermarking it, you're leaving the door open.

The Orphaned Works legislation exists because there really are some works where you cannot trace back the original author. If it were to pass, there should be independent investigation to verify that the work really is orphaned. I doubt that it's possible though.