Anybody ever heard of Orphan Works? I don't pretend to know much about copyright law, but, from what I've been reading, this stuff is a little worrisome. Apparently, there's a new bill going into Congress that should be hitting the floor in mid-May, and it looks like it could mean a lot more bills to pay and red tape to go through when you take a photo, make a video, or paint a picture. At least, if you're looking to actually own your own creative work.
This might just be artists acting a little sensational, but I got this article in one of my feeds this morning. The implications outlined on the Illustrator's Partnership of America site are a little scary. I checked out Picscout because they could stand to profit pretty heavily from this, and their prices are, I guess, reasonable but their numbers are a little low (I mean, $35 a month at most, okay, but only up to 2000 photos?). I'm not sure how an Orphan Works legislation passing in Congress would affect those of us who are in the sphere of journalism, but I figured I'd make mention.
I'm sort of out on the whole issue at the moment. As far I understand it, as long as you make sure the work is in a place where it's obvious who actually owns it (I imagine that Facebook, Flickr, and other such Web sites, where social contact is a big part of the allure, would be safe enough), you can always prove that you were available for contact so there's no way somebody could really call your stuff an orphan work.
Anyway, just figured I'd drop the line ...
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