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May 1, 2008 12:08 PM

Orphan Works Act and online video


Posted by Michael Perlman

If you’re an artist, you’ve probably heard about the Orphan Works Act by now. This includes you, online video producers. There’s a lot of static bouncing around about this new bill. If passed, it could make any original works you create and post online fair game to anyone. The new 2008 Orphan Works Act, which was just recently revised from the original 2006 draft, pertains primarily to any copyrighted works in which the original owner or creator cannot be located. Hence, the term “orphaned.”
 
Let me break it down for you. You’re an independent filmmaker working on the next blockbuster action flick and your budget won’t allow entry for hefty explosives and blasting permits. You find some stock footage of an explosion that is the explosion to end all explosions. But when you go to snag the rights to use the clip, the owner of the copyright or original creator cannot be located. Now you can’t use the footage in fear that the original owner or creator will someday surface and sue your pants off.
 
What the Orphan Works Act is attempting to do is make any copyrighted work deemed “orphaned” open to the public so that there is no fear of copyright infringement. If an orphaned work is found, an extensive “good faith” search must be performed in order to seek out the original creator or owner. So, if after locating the stock footage of that killer explosion you complete a good faith search and the original owner or creator cannot be found, that explosion is all yours.
 
So what’s all the hubbub about? Many artists feel that if the Orphan Woks Act is passed, their work is free range for anyone, from big corporations to small time video makers. However, as outlined in the House and Senate drafts of the Orphan Works Act of 2008, this only pertains to orphaned works. According to one of Senator Patrick Leahy’s aids, “there will be no changes to the law of copyrighted material—it will remain the same.”
 
As of now, YouTubers and other online video creators are ripping each other off left and right, using images from unspecified sources, songs without permission, and video clips they didn’t even create. “Dramatic Prairie Dog,” the legendary five second YouTube clip uses footage from a Japanese kid’s show and music from “Young Frankenstein,” but no major lawsuits have surfaced. I myself have used songs and images without permission, but no one has sniped me out just yet.
 
Ars Technica has a great article on the Orphan Works Act, and the Illustrator’s Partnership has a detailed rundown of how Registries will use databases to orphan any artist’s work, whether they can be located or not.
 
So, I want to hear from you, Camcorderinfo readers. What do you think about the intentions behind the Orphan Works Bill and how it might affect the state of online video? Send me your comments, helpful links, and general grumblings!



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