Bill Could Worsen Problem of Orphan Works

Legislation pending in Congress that would tighten U.S. intellectual-property laws through steeper penalties for copyright and trademark infringement could have the unintended consequence of creating more orphan works, the head of Public Knowledge, a nonprofit group in Washington, warned members of Congress today.

Orphan works are books, articles, films, and other material whose owners can not be identified or contacted. The works are off limits to scholars, librarians, museum directors, and archivists, who risk incurring penalties for copyright infringement if they use the material. Experts estimate that as much as 22 percent of an academic library’s books are orphaned. (See full coverage in The Chronicle).

The bill, called the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2007, HR 4279, would alter a section of the law to say that a work need not be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office before the government prosecutes copyright violators as criminals. Gigi B. Sohn, president of Public Knowledge, said the provision would remove the incentive for copyright holders to register their works, thereby increasing the number of orphaned works.

“Maintaining the registration system as is helps align the interests of copyright owners in protecting their works with the public’s interest in being able to seek those authors’ permission to use their works,” said Ms. Sohn in her prepared testimony. “By doing so, we can help to prevent valuable follow-on users from having to choose between letting a work slip into obscurity and facing millions of dollars in damages for reprinting a copy of a dozen orphaned works.” —Andrea L. Foster