call 911, the artist is down and bloggers beware
as a creative person, this is the most important pending legislation i have come across. unless your head has been buried in the sand for the last few years, you’ll know that as americans our democratic freedoms are disappearing as quickly as the polar ice caps. if you don’t know this, get with it. this particular bill, however, has really struck a nerve with me. my fellow bloggers and readers, i think it will with you too.
in a nutshell… if this bill (the U.S. Orphan Works Bills, H.R. 5889 and S. 2913, introduced into the House and Senate on April 24, 2008) is passed we will not inherently own our work. this includes music, blog entries, photos, doodles, etc. if we don’t pay to register our creations with some yet to be formed commercial registration office, we will have no commercial right to our work.
apparently, google has all ready announced that it plans to publish and disseminate anything they can find on the web, free and clear! theoretically, walt disney can swipe that sketch you made on your napkin, totally legally. in fact, they can xerox your sketch book and sell it for a million bucks, and be done with it. perhaps you think you can win in court against a big corporation in an instance such as this? think again…
here’s a little story, i attempted to copyright the name CELESTIAL COCKTAILS for myself (this was before i’d thought of INTOXICATED ZODIAC). well, guess who came a knockin” on my door talkin all sorts of legal action? CELESTIAL SEASONINGS, that’s who! so, what do cocktails and tea have in common? apart from a long island iced tea, i have no idea. but they won and i walked.
hey, but that’s ok, i’m safe… after all, i legally copyrighted all of my original astrology designs with the same intellectual property lawyer who won kate spade’s lawsuit against the gap. ha ha ha… this new law will force you to re-copyright anything and everything you ever created. all for a small fee of course.
are you breathing a sigh of relief because you don’t make your lively hood as an artist or blogger? well you are still not safe. home video recordings, cell phone photos, scrapbook entries, hell your kinky sex videos, are all fair game to the all mighty US corporation.
so watch this video on youtube and go to this website to sign petitions. spread the word… we have to stop this one peeps!
READ MORE:
IPA Statement to House Subcommittee March 20, 2008
Geneva/ May 7, 2008 Orphan Works Bill Catches Global Attention/ Intellectual Property Watch
those of you who rock outside the usa…
Thanks for the Ping.
There seems to be lots of different information on the web.
Some professional sources like it and some like some of it. The problem is that we have no real idea of whats going to happen in the end and what form it’s going to be in if it passes. It’s very frustrating.
Many do agree while having a plan to deal with Orphan work is a good thing, other parts of the bill are not so good.
Let’s hope that sane minds jump in and stand up for creative folks. I don’t want my work to be clip-art.
Comment by Brian — June 10, 2008 @ 9:58 am
hmmnn… sane minds in the government? we’re in trouble…
Comment by Gwen-Intoxicated Zodiac — June 11, 2008 @ 7:04 pm
I am sure this will pass in 1 form or another.
I’ve already expected something like this to
happen years ago. I jos hope they at least make
corps pay a % to a fund for kids to get some
arts type education for any orphan works they use..
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♥
Comment by Clarence Reed — June 11, 2008 @ 7:43 pm