One of my clients is a cartoonist and turned me on to this bit of news:
Orphan Works information
To summarize, The bill being fast-tracked through Congress and which is expected to pass without opposition (i.e. the right people have been paid off) will require all creative work to be formally registered for copyright protection. Works that are NOT registered are orphaned. This means that anybody that wants to steal your work -- even register it as their own -- can do so and you're not protected.
The implications go even further: Because this bill disengages us from the International Community treaties, anybody NOT in the US can steal your work whether or not your register it.
Since 'registration' will now be done through 'private' companies (which don't even exist, yet), and since the protection of the 'user' only requires a cursory 'search' through one or two registries, you are not even protected even if you DO register your work.
I suggest a strategy to combat this:
(1) Make it hurt your clients. For every 'job', include a 'registration fee' for every design comp you submit.
(2) Attach all fees to the names of the congressmen behind the bill.
(3) Flood the courts with lawsuits that attack the law on constitutional grounds.
(4) Anybody that can question Clinton, McCain and Obama on their SUPPORT of the bill should do so: They are Senators.
(5) Stop using Geddy and Corbis: They want the bill and they have hired lobbyists to work on their own behalf.
(6) If you work a 9 - 5, strike. If you work 1099, include fees into your contract and make it explicit that it is congressman (name) that has caused the extra price.
(7) Steal work. Steal CNN, NBC, CBS, BBC... promote your 'stolen' newscasts on your sites and explain why you were able to steal it.
(
Steal work II. and start registering other people's work as your own. Claim it. Promote how you were able to successfully steal the work because of the bill.
(9) Do damage. Name names. Tell everybody that the destruction of our industry was caused by this senator and that congressman.
(10) Exploit the law shamelessly. Turn in into the biggest 'legalized theft' of the industry by stealing everything and then using the stolen work to promote the bill.
Use forums, blogs, websites... promote that this bill will kill us and hurt everybody.
Contact me at
orphan@rasadesign.com for more information... and for those of you that don't, please rest assured that I'll steal your work with impunity... even register it as my own if it is good.. and then sue you for using your own designs.
Orphan Works Bill to pass: I can steal your work if you don't register your copyright
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