Orphan Workspresented by Ali Accarino

Orphan Work:

A copyrighted work (book, music, film, photo, record,

etc.) whose copyright owner cannot be found or is not

easily found

History

1976 Copyright Act

Eliminated any formal registration requirements for a copyright

Included an extension of the duration of the copyright protection

Led to a proliferation in orphan works

1976

Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act

Extended copyrights for an additional 20 years, so that it lasts for the life span of the creator and an additional 70 years after their death

Allowed libraries and archives to use a work without permission if the work is not otherwise being used for commercial exploitation and not available at a reasonable price

1998

Public Domain Enhancement ActIntroduced in House of Representatives in 2003

Reintroduced in 2005

Did not pass

Would have released some orphan works into the public domain if the copyright owners did not renew their copyright 50 years after the work was first released and then every 10 years after

2003 2005

Copyright Office Orphan Works Study

Issued a Notice of Inquiry and asked the public to submit comments about orphan works

Conducted 3 roundtable discussions

Issued report in January of 2006

Concluded that orphan works are an issue that needs to be dealt with legislatively

2005

Legislation

Orphan Works Act of 2006 was introduced in the House

Provided a limitation on remedies for when the copyright holder cannot be found

Bill was withdrawn in September 2006

2006

In 2008 the Orphan Works Act was introduced in the House and the Shawn Bentley Orphan Act was introduced in the Senate

Both called for similar things

Neither were passed before the end of the session, nor were they reintroduced in the next session

Legislation

2008

Book Search Settlement

Current settlement allows Google to sell orphan works

If passed, everyone would be able to access previously untouchable orphan works, but Google would have a monopoly and complete control over all orphan works

2009

Critical Analysis

Book Search Settlement

- James Grimmelman, “ACS Issue Brief on Google Book Settlement”

Book Search Settlement

- Lateef Mtima & Stephen Jamar, “Re: The Authors Guild et al. v. Google, Inc. Case No. 1:05 cv 8136 (S.D.N.Y)”

Legislation

- Jerry Brito & Bridget Dooling, “An Orphan Works Affirmative Defense to Copyright Infringement Acts”

Legislation

- Mark Dery, “works--progress?”

Legislation

- Lawrence Lessig, “Little Orphan Artworks”

Berne Conventionfor the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works

Signed in 1886 by the most prominent countries of the time

Stipulates that copyright ownership must be automatic (meaning it should not involve registration)

U.K. Orphan Works Model

The Treasury Department published a report in 2005 about Intellectual Property

Recommended that the UK Intellectual Property Office should clearly define what qualifies as a “reasonable search”

Should also established voluntary register of copyright

Canadian Copyright ActThe Canadian Copyright Board examines a user’s search process and issues a non-exclusive copyright license and collects a licensing fee that is sent to the relevant creator’s collecting society

If the artist or author is not traced or identified within 5 years, the fee can be used by the collecting society for the benefit of its general membership

So... what should happen to all of the orphan works in the

United States?