ORPHAN WORKS UPDATE 7-08-08

ASPP's Best Practices for Locating Copyright Owners
Of Photographic and Visual Art

7/8/08.v2

Depending on the information you have to begin your search, The American Society of Picture Professionals (ASPP) recommends the following approach to tracking down copyright ownership for works primarily of US authors:

For images where the photographer or artist name is known:

 

 

PHOTOGRAPHY

In addition to the sites mentioned above, the following sites have search engines that allow you to search by a photographer’s name.

 

 

For images where you DO NOT know the photographer or artist:

 

 

OTHER PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS THAT MIGHT BE HELPFUL TO CONTACT

 

 

Once you have exhausted a search using these resources, consult legal counsel about the business risks associated with using the work or not.  If you do determine that the risk of infringement is low, be sure to maintain in writing what steps you took to locate the copyright owner and the date you took those steps.  
Steps to take going forward will depend upon current legislation related to Orphan Works. Be sure to consult the latest legislation. One place to check is the American Society of Media Photographers’ website http://www.asmp.org/news/spec2008/orphan_update.php.  
It is likely that there will be additional databases that will enable searches of images and other technological measures to assist in facilitating the search. For example, the software company Idée is beta testing TinEye, a new image search engine on the web using image identification technology.  Go to http://www.ideeinc.com/products/tineye/
This document will be updated as needed to include other measures as they become available.

FINE ART

When searching for fine artists or trying to clear rights for works of fine art, the following links are helpful:

 

 

This document should not be relied upon to determine if the steps you have taken are sufficient. Since there is no current legislation that permits the use of a work if the owner cannot be located and any legislation will not be retroactive, the fact that you have tried to locate the owner and did not succeed is not a defense to a claim of infringement by an emerging copyright owner. The copyright owner could seek monetary damages as well as an injunction to prevent the future publication of the work in certain circumstances. If the work is registered, the owner can also seek statutory damages and attorney’s fees.

The American Society of Picture Professional (ASPP) is a community of image experts committed to sharing their experience and knowledge throughout the industry. This non-profit association provides professional networking and educational opportunities for those who create, edit, research, license, manage or publish pictures. For more information go to www.aspp.com or contact the Executive Director Cathy Sachs at cathy@aspp.com

 For a pdf of this document, please click here.

 

ORPHAN WORKS UPDATE 5-23-08

Last Friday 16th May the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee passed its amended version of the Orphan Works bill (S.2913) which many photographer associations see as being decidedly more unfriendly to the community of visual artists and photographers than the original bill as presented.  The House committee under the chairmanship of Rep. Howard Berman is holding closed door hearings on Wednesday May 21st to see what if any revisions they are going to make to their version of the bill (H.R. 5889). One outcome could be a new joint committee to reconcile any differences before bringing Orphan Works to the floor for a vote.  Or they could decide to just accept the Senate version of the bill and go forward.  In any event, it is all happening NOW!

Most of our sister photographer associations are now urging their members to contact their representatives and senators to voice their concerns and ask that the process be slowed down to allow more voices to be heard.  You can get more information about all of the issues involved, and how to contact your representatives etc. by going to the following organizations’ sites:

 
http://www.asmp.org/news/spec2008/orphan_update.php  (ASMP also has an informative series of pod casts on Orphan Works)

http://www.apanational.com/i4a/pages/Index.cfm?pageID=3866

http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/congdir.tt?action=myreps_form

http://www.pro-imaging.org/content/view/229/168/


ASPP has to maintain a neutral stance since our members are on both sides of the debate.  However, common sense indicates that some of the new provisions of the Senate version of the bill do severely limit artists’ rights to protect their own work, and seek compensation for unlawful use. 

So, if this is an issue that is important to you, make your voice heard TODAY.   Fax, email or call.  You should also contact the U.S. Copyright Office at (tel) 202-707-5959 or (fax) 202-707-8366. 

 

The American Society of Picture Professional (ASPP) is a community of image experts committed to sharing their experience and knowledge throughout the industry. This non-profit association provides professional networking and educational opportunities for those who create, edit, research, license, manage or publish pictures. For more information go to www.aspp.com or contact the Executive Director Cathy Sachs at cathy@aspp.com






© 2007 ASPP. All images are copyrighted by the credited contributors. No reproduction or copying in any way is permitted without express written permission of the contributor.