May 23, 2006
Orphan-Works Legislation
Rep. Lamar Smith, Republican of Texas, has introduced the Orphan Works Act of 2006, a bill that has been supported by documentary filmmakers and the library community. Prudence S. Adler, associate executive director of the Association of Research Libraries, said that library organizations, publishers, and other groups are still working on language that might be added to the bill before it becomes law.
Gigi B. Sohn, president of Public Knowledge, a public-interest group that focuses on intellectual-property issues, said in a statement that the bill is a “significant improvement” over a draft bill released by the Copyright Office earlier this year. Among other things, the bill eliminates a sunset provision that was built into the Copyright Office’s version.
The bill would limit the liability of those who use copyrighted works after an unsuccessful but “reasonably diligent” search for an owner. The bill awards “reasonable compensation” to owners who contact those who use their works without permission.
“We would prefer a cap on damages as opposed to the ‘reasonable compensation’ standard in the bill,” Ms. Sohn’s statement says. “At the least, there should be more certainty that ‘reasonable compensation’ will not lead to great financial liability for the user. We hope there will be language in the Judiciary Committee report on the bill that would make clear that the amount of compensation for use of an orphan work that has been out of circulation should be low and should decline over time.”
Posted on Tuesday May 23, 2006 | Permalink |Commenting is closed for this article.
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