What is an Orphan Work?
In copyright and “orphan work” is a creative work in which the owner cannot be found. So far so good. Maybe it’s a piece of music by that great composer, anonymous.

You might think that makes sense, but this bill changes drastically the definition of what makes a work orphan.

Dangerously so.

Under current International Law, you have copyright on your original works of art automatically, even if you do not register it.
Take a picture of your kid — it’s your copyright
Design an original piece of needlepoint — it’s your copyright
Write a song or a book — it’s your copyright

And all without registering anything or without paying any money to anyone. If I copied your needlepoint and sold it you could sue me for breach of copyright.

This world-wide system is what allows creative people all over the world, no matter their medium, make a living and it encourages them to create new works. In fact, copyright was created in the 17th Century to do just that and to protect authors from having their work plagerized, changed, and sold without their consent.

In the time since, copyright has changed to take many different media and issues into account. And it still provides important safeguards to people.

What does this bill do that’s so bad?
Under the new bill these protections would be lost for any artist of any kind, even you taking the picture or doing the needlepoint, if it appeared in the US. Under the bill in order not to be an orphan you would need to register your work in a “database” not run by the government. The form of this database is not specified, nor are the fees.

Under this law, if your work is not registered, anyone can use it without compensating you or even asking your permission, because, being unregistered, it’s now an orphan.

If you live outside the US and don’t list your works in these databases, your work is an orphan in the US.

Right now registration is not mandatory for creative works, but this bill would make these listings absolutely necessary.

How would it hurt me?
If authors, movie makers, and performers, let alone graphic artists, illustrators, photographers, and needlework designers, can’t keep their work safe from copying, they won’t work.

That hot new movie? You won’t find it in your local cineplex, you’ll need to go outside the US to see it, if it’s even made.

The successor to Harry Potter? Buy it from Amazon.uk because the author won’t let it be published in the US and it may be that Amazon.uk won’t even be able to ship it here.

Your kids’ school pictures? Yep, they’re copyrighted, but today they don’t need to be registered. If they do, look for the price to go up at best.

That hand-painted canvas you love? It won’t be there because the artist has stopped working because she can’t afford the registration fees in the face of numerous, low-quality knock-offs.

And on and on.

It’s funny, we don’t usually think about how our implied copyright makes our lives work smoothly. But take away all those creative things from logos to web articles and where would we be?

The list of people and groups opposing this law is huge, you can see a list here (page down a bit to see the list). Also on that page you can find a much better explanation of the law and what’s at stake.

Read it, the passage of this law will affect all of us in all aspects of our lives.

According to TNNA “Next week (June 4-5) a group of concerned citizens opposed to the Orphan Works bills in Congress will lobby members of the Senate and House of Representatives. The organizations officially opposed to the legislation are the Craft & Hobby Assn., The National NeedleArts Assn., the Society of Decorative Painters, and a wide range of groups representing artists, designers, photographers, illustrators, and cartoonists.

CLN [a trade publication} has learned from David Brog, former Chief of Staff for Senator Arlen Specter (R, PA), that to get the attention of a member of Congress, the magic number of communications (phone calls, letters, emails, postcards, etc.) is 1,000. It would be particularly helpful if there were 1,000 or more communications received by the time the lobbying group meets with Senators.”

What Can I do?

Write your Congressman and your Senators to oppose this bill. The fastest form of action is to mail a postcard to the local office which says:
Congress: “Vote no on H.R. 5899″
Senate: “Vote no on S.2913″

Be sure to put your name address and phone number.

There are also pre-written letters, emails, and other items you can use to take action.

For a list of Senators, go here.

For a list of Congressmen, go here.

Related posts:

1. Chilly Hollow Needlepoint Blog – Tour Stop
2. Copyright and Stitching a Building
3. Creating Bargello – Virtual Book Tour Stop
4. A Small Rant about Price/Value in Books
5. Change in eBay — Rant

I did some research on this awhile ago and it turns out to be more complex than you might think.

Just to get you started in thinking about this here are some things to consider.

1. Is the piece a work of art, like a sculpture? There is a famous landmark here in Napa County of a grape crusher. It is copyright of the artist and its use is regulated by that.

2. Is it a commercial building? Then its use may be licensed by the owner as part of their identity. Here’s another local example, Robert Mondavi uses drawings of his winery on his labels, hence the building image is licensed.

3. Is it an historic landmark? Your local historical society may need to be consulted.

4. Is it by a famous architect? While I don’t think built buildings are subject to copyright, I’d check if it was by someone famous.

If it isn’t any of these things, then I think you can do it without violating copyright. HOWEVER, if a business is there, say it’s a B&B, I would send them a letter about what you want to do and ask permission. They probably won’t know what you are talking about but it’s good to ask.

I’d also give them a stitched model to hang and some information about getting the design.

If it’s a private residence, I would also ask. Mainly because I think it is the polite thing to do and also offer them the chart.

But as near as I can tell, outside of the things mentioned above, which may take a fair amount of research on your part, there isn’t a copyright problem.

Related posts:

1. Publicize your Guild & Promote Needlepoint
2. Simple Trick for Stitching Needlepoint
3. Stitching Windows
4. Turning Photographs to Needlepoint
5. Stop the Orphan Works Bill