Orphan Works is back. Last month, the U.S. Congress held Hearings, making clear that the wheels were again in motion. Last week, it became official when new versions of the Orphan Works Act of 2008 were introduced by both the House and Senate. SAA has published this document to provide an information resource for artists and other members of the visual arts community who will be affected by this legislation, sharing our perspective as the only association dedicated to the interests of professional photographers involved in stock image licensing.

Continue reading "The Stock Artists Alliance publishes Orphan Works 2008 Commentary" »

Posted by Stock Artists Alliance at May 06, 2008 | Comments (0)

The American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) is reporting on the demise of the Orphan Works bill (the Copyright Modernization Act of 2006, HR 6052) which appears to have died in committee. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) who announced that he was withdrawing the bill from consideration at that markup session, which is likely to be the last one this year. The bill was stopped due to strong opposition put forth by organizations like the SAA, ASMP, APA, IPA, PACA, and many others. In addition, Rep. Smith had tied the Orphan Works bill to a digital music licensing bill creating further opposition from the music industry.

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Posted by Brent Phelps at September 28, 2006 | Comments (0)

Stefan Hartmann interviews Charles Swan

The English lawyer Charles Swan is considered one of Europe’s leading experts on the law relating to photography. After leaving the Simkins Partnership last year, he set up Swan Turton, a London based media law firm comprising twelve lawyers covering all areas of the media and entertainment sectors including music, film and TV, theatre, advertising, publishing, visual arts and photography.

Swan is also Chairman of the international lawyers’ association Adlaw International, which advises advertisers and agencies on cross-border advertising campaigns. He was the first non-photographer director of the Association of Photographers in the UK.

Continue reading "Caricatures, orphan works, and the legacy of the Normans" »

Posted by Stefan Hartmann at April 25, 2006 | Comments (0)

On March 14, 2006, the illustrators trade association, Illustrators Partnership of America (IPA,) submitted an eloquent assessment of the Orphan Works issue to the House Judiciary Subcommittee responsible for recommending revisions to Orphan Works legislation. As we have reported here, the new language under consideration severely compromises artists copyrights in works whose origin may become difficult to determine.  Two artists, Brad Holland and Cynthia Turner, composed this text on behalf of IPA which provides a clear and detailed evaluation of the matter.  In addition, IPA’s web-site has more articles about Orphan Works.

 

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Posted by Chris Ferrone at March 24, 2006 | Comments (0)

Nancy Wolff, Counsel to the Executive Committee of the Picture Archive Council of America (PACA) and Victor Perlman, General Counsel to the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP,) have recently joined forces with other concerned parties to ensure that pending amendments to current legislation concerning “Orphan Works” (i.e., illustrations, photographs, paintings, etc. of unknown authorship) adequately protect photographers, illustrators and other artists, while also permitting proper use of works that truly have no attribution.  The US Copyright Office has examined the issue and come up with recommended changes to Orphan Works legislation that Wolff and Perlman agree, as currently worded, place the authors of those works on weak legal footing.  Congress will, ultimately consider enacting into law the recommended language from the Copyright Office.  The attorneys from PACA, ASMP and other interested groups hope to convince Congress to change the language to strengthen the rights and remedies of the creators of Orphan Works. They address three essential issues covered by the proposed legislation:

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Posted by Chris Ferrone at March 03, 2006 | Comments (1)