Mark Simon responds to the blogs.

There are lots of blogs saying that my article, You Will Lose All the Rights to Your Own Art, is untrue because there is no bill currently before Congress. In fact, legislators have the bill but have not released it yet to Congress. When they do, we won't have much time to get the word out; thus my first article. But it will come out, and soon. You don't have to take my word for it. Here is the supporting information I based much of my article on. It was written as a counter to the blogs that say I'm insane. That may be true, but that doesn't mean that Congress isn't trying to get this bill passed.

[The following is from the website of the Illustrators' Partnership.]

Orphan Works: No Myth
by Brad Holland
We've seen "Six Misconceptions About Orphan Works" circulating on the Internet. It's a well-reasoned piece, but has one problem. The author cites current copyright law to "debunk" concerns about an amendment that would change the law she cites.

How would the proposed amendment change the law? We'll get to that and other questions in a minute. But first, let's answer the broader charge that news of an Orphan Works bill is just "an Internet myth."

Q: There is no Orphan Works bill before Congress -- one was introduced in 2006, but it was never voted on.

A: Correct. The last bill died in Congress because of intense opposition from illustrators, photographers, fine artists, and textile designers. The Illustrators' Partnership testified against it in both the House and Senate.

Q: So if the bill is dead, why warn everybody about it now?

A: Because a new bill is due out momentarily. According to Andrew Noyes of the National Journal:

Legislation aimed at reworking a portion of U.S. copyright law dealing with "orphan works"... will likely be a priority for the panel headed by House Judiciary Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property Subcommittee Chairman Howard Berman, D-Calif., in the spring...

American Library Association copyright specialist Carrie Russell said her members are "excited about having orphan works legislation" move this session, adding, "the House effort is so close to being a done deal that we're on the edge of our seats."

Q: But if there isn't a new bill yet, how can we know what's going to be in it?

A: Our information indicates the new bill will be basically the same as the old one. According to the Copyright Clearance Center:

Subcommittee chairman Howard Berman made it quite clear that he intends to introduce new orphan works legislation shortly... It is likely the new bill will look very similar to The Orphan Works Act of 2006."

Q: But if it's due out shortly, why not wait until it's been introduced before we oppose it?

A: To quote from the Copyright Clearance Center:

Since this is an election year, and re-election campaigns will be in full swing by late summer, new orphan works legislation will probably be fast-tracked to reach the floor of the House by mid-May.

Since that would give us only a month to notify artists, we decided to start now.

Q: Do we have any direct corroboration for these press reports?

A: Since the last bill died, we've met with:

• Chairman Berman;
  

• Attorneys from the Copyright Office;
  

• Representatives of the House and Senate Subcommittees;
  

• A lobbyist for Getty and Corbis. (Getty and Corbis oppose the bill, but are negotiating for favorable concessions.)

Q: Where did we get the idea that the Copyright Office wants to impose for-profit registries?

A: That proposal has been there from the beginning. Two examples (with emphasis added), the first from page 106 of the Copyright Office's 2006 Orphan Works Report:

[W]e believe that registries are critically important, if not indispensable, to addressing the orphan works problem...It is our view that such registries are better developed in the private sector...