S.2913 - Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008 Sponsor: Patrick Leahy / 110th Congress

Title
110th Congress - A bill to provide a limitation on judicial remedies in copyright infringement cases involving orphan works.
Summary
A bill to provide a limitation on judicial remedies in copyright infringement cases involving orphan works. (by CRS)
Status
The bill was voted on in the Senate on September 26, 2008
Bill status:
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced:
4/24/2008
Sponsor:
Patrick Leahy

Contribution data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics (OpenSecrets.org)

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Artists fear Orphan Works Act facilitates copyright infringement by Angela Xu, Jun 4, 2008 (2:29am)

This is a follow-up bill to the Orphan Works Act of 2006, which died in committee. Any creative work of art can become “orphaned” when a new user cannot find the copyright holder after a “diligent” search, meaning that the art passes into the public domain. If the creator emerges after the new user has begun to exploit the art for commercial purposes, the bill provides for certain remedies to the creator. However, this act would also require artists to register every single piece of art they ever create in order to preclude the possibility of orphanage, a process which could be unwieldy and costly.

Supporters of the bill argue that without it, many valuable works of art would be forever lost to the public since no one would be able to use them. Though many opponents concede that the concept of orphan works has some intrinsic merit, they criticize this bill for being too weak on protecting artists’ rights.

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