Corporate Theft: The Orphan Works Art Bill Re-introduced

The following article may be inaccurate. The source previously cited in this article no longer exists (most likely due to inaccurate information as well). However, I found this article which may better explain the Orphan Works Art Bill. Furthermore, I have found no additional information as to the revival of this bill.

The Orphan Works bill is essentially a plan to require that art be registered in a database for your rights as an artist to be recognized. It was introduced to congress in April of 2008, with Section 3 of the bill stating the following:

The Copyright Office must create and undertake a certification process for the establishment of electronic databases of visual works. Certain requirements for any such registry are prescribed. The Copyright Office will post a list of all certified registries on the Internet.

Basically if this bill comes into effect then all unregistered works of art would be subject to theft (using other people’s creations without permission for personal gain). If you do choose to register for your works, expect to pay a fine. Check out this video which explains it:

While I do see how this could protect businesses in legitimate ways, for instance, an employee in a company taking works from the web and using them as their own without the company’s knowledge, this would ultimately allows businesses to take advantage of artists who publish their unregistered works on the web who may not be able to afford the costs of registration. Fortunately, there has been attempts by artists online at preventing such a bill from being passed. Here’s a quote from an email received by a deviantart member, taken directly from [link no longer exists]:

Artists having to pay to be in searchable registries is potential problem number one. I believe this will be left to the private companies based on my research into who is supporting this horrible bill and what businesses are opening preparing for it. I went in and checked the domain registry to search to see if people were buying the domains (registermyart.com, artregistry.com, etc..etc…) and every one I searched was gone. This was the red flag that began the real push to solve this assault on artist rights. The corporate sharks are already preparing to feed it seems.

Since the business world reads the laws and tries to capitalize on the loopholes, it is obvious to me that this would happen. Money is already flowing that direction. My guess is the art registries will launch as soon as the law passes or shortly thereafter, unless some miracle happens. Smart buggers but not smart enough. Imagine the photographers who take five hundred images a day or more…ugh. Artists cannot pay for this service…at least those I know who produce quantities of work…and none should have to.

Anyway, that problem is now solved in low tech fashion. ConceptArt.Org has created a search system for locating art and artists, essentially cutting off the paid registry industry before they can even get off the ground. Click the images and find the original thread. Click the artist name and contact them directly. This also keeps these readying companies from acting as middlemen, between the searcher and the artist who they wish to hire. There is no room for that in our business.

I designed and we rebuilt all our databases and set up conceptart.org servers to handle up to 200 terabytes of secure storage. This service is entirely free and is a gift to the community from ConceptArt.Org. It is also nice as you can now browse through the images on the site very quickly. What used to take a week to view, now takes hours. Released in this viewer are five hundred thousand images. More will be added shortly. When you post on the forums your images go in the copyright search registry we created. It is all automated for you. Just keep doing as you do and at least your work can be found. The watermark will be site wide, and contains the appropriate information.

Hopefully with the support of the online community we can stop this bill from ever being passed. I’m just trying to get the word out. Hopefully readers will spread the word as well. This subject was already dugg in the past, but since the bill is being reintroduced, let’s voice our opinion once again.

Think this bill is unfair? There is already an online petition against it with close to 12,000 signatures to date. Sign the petition if you support free rights.