Samhain Publishing Ltd Weblog

Orphan Copyright Bill and Our Right to Private Property

Yesterday Marie-Nicole Ryan posted a little message on the Samhain Author Loop. It caught my eye on the daily digest, because I had just seen a similar titled post on another loop.

“Hmm….maybe this is something important?” I thought. It is.

Here’s the link:

http://www.owoh.org/index.php

If you don’t want to follow the link (though I highly recommend you do so), read more for my shortened version of what is happening with this piece of legislation (and yes, I’ve interjected my opinion into this paraphrasing).

Big corporations want more money. They got a bunch of academics to write a bill that is difficult for people (including our congressmen and their aids) to understand. This bill would orphan all works immediately upon their creation which means the works would not be owned by the creator but instead immediately be part of the public domain. The artist/creator would have to PAY a private, commercial company to own his or her creative work.

Users of the “orphaned” work have a ton of ambiguous phrases in this piece of legislation to protect them from being sued by the little ole’ creator of the “orphaned” art. So guess who makes money? The “private, commercial companies” from selling copyrights to artists and the big guys who will have access to any of the billions of photographs (including family shots on personal blogs), music riffs, stories, doodles, etc that they can nab from the internet.

There is so much money to make from this, that the few artists who have enough money to sue the big corporations will hardly make a dent in the profits.

What a frick’n great day for America. I bet no matter the protest from creative associations and artists unions this piece of greedy filth will pass. I emailed my congressmen, two Senators from both parties who are actually two of the few centrists left in Congress – they might do the right thing. My house rep is just another “yes man” for the Republican big dogs so he’ll vote as his party leaders tell him and where from the money flows. I bet the Democrats will vote the same way, because this is about money and they want it too.

Oh, what was my reference to private property in the title? Here are some words from the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution: “nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”

Okay, that’s all I’m going to say…

Obama in ’08!

~Margo Lukas
Half Moon Rising