Lots going on: prints to get framed (behind schedule), planning to do (behind schedule), work to get sorted before I go (behind schedule), and Power Point presentations to prepare.
I have the first one ready though, and I’m looking forward to this. After the con, I’m going to visit Duane Sovyn’s 4th grade class in Calgary and talk to them about dragons. I guess they’re pretty excited; they sent me this (click on the picture to get the full view):
Classy Class
Pretty cool, huh? See you soon, guys!
Posted by Todd in Shows at 10:32 PM PDT
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Gigi Sohn is the president of Public Knowledge. What her stake in this is I can only guess, but she’s a “Communications Attorney,” so no doubt somehow connected to Google or another like Google who want to parade anything they find for profit, while making it possible for outright thieves to run away with my livelihood.
There are so many ways this thing is bad news. But the illustrator’s Partnership explains it better than I can:
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Todd in Orphaned Works at 12:27 PM PDT
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It’s clear that this legislation is an effort on the part of Google and other large internet properties to obviate the consequences of their behaviors, intentional or otherwise. Instead of a fair solution, they opt to push for one that allows themselves and any others complete license to use anything they find, anywhere, at will:
FROM THE ILLUSTRATORS’ PARTNERSHIP
Orphan Works: The Big Internet Factor
10.7.08
On October 2, several professional organizations sent a letter to every member of Congress, calling attention to the role of big internet companies in orphan works legislation. Here’s an excerpt:
“We believe these bills mask an effort by Big Internet companies to profit by undermining existing global intellectual property rights protections…
“The lobbying efforts to promote this legislation pit small entrepreneurs and artists of all kinds against some of the largest and most well-financed Internet powerhouses in America…
“We find it deeply disturbing that the U.S. Copyright Office has so clearly and unambiguously advocated legislation that will privilege large commercial interests such as Google at the expense of creators and the countless small businesses that serve, and are dependent on the creative community.
“We find this even more troubling in light of Google’s substantial contribution to the Library of Congress at a time when the Copyright Office was preparing its Orphan Works recommendations — and at a time when Google had acknowledged to the SEC that its financial well-being is dependent on a business model that has already engendered multiple lawsuits for copyright infringement totaling billions of dollars.
“Google and other large database, advertising and search engine companies clearly have a major financial stake in the weakening of copyright law through new legislation. The Orphan Works Acts, if enacted in either of its current forms, would solve the problem that has vexed so many start-up internet companies: how to make money by giving away free content. By opening the door to potentially billions of “permitted” infringements of protected copyrights, this legislation would allow Big Internet to create an entirely new business model, by licensing content they don’t have to pay for – through the digitizing, archiving and monetizing of the intellectual property of ordinary citizens.”
To read the full letter go to: http://ipaorphanworks.blogspot.com/2008/10/orphan-works-big-internet-factor.html
Then please read on in this post to take action!
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Posted by Todd in Orphaned Works at 11:40 PM PDT
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FROM THE ILLUSTRATORS’ PARTNERSHIP
An Unprecedented Grassroots Response
10.6.08
Thank you to everyone who wrote, phoned and faxed Congress during the last hectic weeks. Speaking virtually with one voice, artists have rejected the Orphan Works Act.
Does that mean it’s dead? No. Far from it. Lobbyists will continue to promote it, this Congress may yet find a way to pass it, and if not, it will be back when the next Congress convenes in January.
So what happened last week and what does it mean?
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Posted by Todd in Orphaned Works at 1:04 PM PDT
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“Google” has a new meaning to me: it means to steal art.
FROM THE ILLUSTRATORS’ PARTNERSHIP
According to our sources
THE HOUSE WILL TRY TO PASS THE ORPHAN WORKS BILL TODAY
10.3.08
If this Bill is only meant to help libraries and museums, why did they draft it behind closed doors?
Why have the doors been opened wide for commercial infringement of the work of living authors actively licensing their work?
Why do they want to pass it when nobody’s looking?
Why do they want to re-write copyright law without an open debate?
Stop this effort to give content to Big Internet firms by undermining copyright law.
Get the word out.
· Light up Washington and home offices of your Congressman.
· Contact the media.
· Deny them cover. Do not let them hide.
Tell them we will hold each of them accountable.
THE MESSAGE for your Congressman, Key Leaders, Aides, Media
· The “Dark Archive” – where infringers can register their paperwork in secret – will not protect our copyrights.
· An “Open Archive” – with orphaned work exposed to to the public – would be a come-and-get-it bank for plagiarists and infringers.
· Artists cannot monitor tens or hundreds of thousands of images every day to see if somebody somewhere has infringed their work.
· There are more than a trillion images subject to orphaning each day.
· If someone can’t find me, that doesn’t mean I’ve orphaned my work.
· An unsuccessful search for a property owner should not be a license to steal.
· Artists should not have to digitize their life’s work at their own expense to comply with a law they don’t want or need.
· The high cost compliance would make compliance prohibitive.
· The loss of exclusive rights would undermine contractual agreements with clients.
· We cannot sell exclusive rights to clients if others can publish our work without our knowledge or consent.
· The loss of exclusive rights would devalue our entire inventories of work.
· Small business owners should not be forced to subsidize the business models of Big Internet firms.
· No rational business owner should have to give access to their inventory, metadata, client contact information, etc. to outside business interests.
Tell lawmakers to prevent passage of this bill until it can be subjected to an open, informed and transparent public examination.
Tell them this is no way to re-write copyright law.
Tell them it will affect millions of rights holders worldwide.
Tell them you would support a true orphan works bill, but this is not it.
Tell them to to consider the amendments presented by the Illustrators’ Partnership, Artists Rights Society and Advertising Photographers of America
Phone, fax, email these Congresspeople immediately
DELAHUNT
Phone: (202) 225-3111 Fax (202) 225-5658
Phone: (617) 770-3700 Fax: (617) 770-2984
CONYERS
Phone: (202) 225-5126 Fax: (202) 225-0072
Phone: (313) 961-5670 Fax: (313) 226-2085
NADLER
Phone: (202) 225-5635 Fax: (202) 225-6923
Phone: (212) 367-7350 Fax: (212) 367-7356
BERMAN
Phone: (202) 225-4695 Fax: (202) 225-3196
Phone: (818) 994-7200 Fax: (818) 994-1050
PELOSI AmericanVoices@mail.house.gov
Phone: (202) 225-4965 Fax: (202) 225-8259
Phone: (415) 556-4862 Fax: (415) 861-1670
HOYER
steny.hoyer@mail.house.gov
Phone: (202) 225-4131 Fax: (202) 225-4300
Phone: (301) 474-0119 Fax: (301) 474-4697
YOUR REPRESENTATIVE
To find Washington and District Office phone, fax and web forms for your Representative
http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/dbq/officials/
and enter your zip code
YOUR LOCAL MEDIA
To find the contacts for your Local Media go to
http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/dbq/media/
and enter your zip code
Please post or forward this message immediately to any interested party.
Posted by Todd in Orphaned Works at 12:00 PM PDT
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FROM THE ILLUSTRATORS’ PARTNERSHIP
Orphan Works: Not Dead Till It’s Dead
10.1.08
Wired Magazine has posted an article: “‘Orphan Works’ Copyright Law Dies Quiet Death”
Well, we can hope. But we’re dealing with a.) a fluid situation in Washington; and b.) special interests determined to pass this bill. So our assessment:
It’s not dead till it’s dead.
According to our DC sources, the most efficient way for Congress to pass this bill now would be for the House to scrap their own version and adopt the Senate’s. There are procedural ways they can do this. Some say they will; some say they won’t.It’s enough to know they can.
There are special interest groups promoting the House bill now: big stock houses, for example, like Getty and Corbis, and groups working with them. They want an infringer-friendly “dark archive,” a privately-owned “entity” sanctioned by the Copyright Office where infringers would file a notice of intent to infringe a work.
Since artists would not have access to this dark archive, the “sanctioned entity” would be of no use to us until our work has been infringed and we’ve filed a case in federal court. And then it would mostly serve the interests of infringers – letting them prove in court they had done the minimal necessary paperwork before they infringed.
The important thing to remember about the House bill is that there is no protection for artists in it. It would simply give more middlemen a chance to profit from this gutting of copyright law.
We know it’s hard to ask Congress to focus on copyright law with a financial crisis looming. But we didn’t pick this fight and it’s our rights at stake if we don’t.
There is no national emergency for orphan works that requires Congress to pass this bill – which was drafted in secret – in the dark of night.
Please contact your House Representative today. Tell them not to pass the House bill. Tell them not to adopt the Senate’s.
- Brad Holland and Cynthia Turner, for the Board of the Illustrators’ Partnership
TAKE ACTION: EMAIL CONGRESS NOW
http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/issues/alert/?alertid=11980321
Please post or forward this message immediately to any interested party.
Posted by Todd in Orphaned Works at 4:13 PM PDT
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