Mind Your Business: You Will Lose All the Rights to Your Own Art
Two proponents of this new legislation are Corbis and Getty Images. They are large stock photo and stock art companies. They sell art and photos inexpensively and are trying to build giant royalty-free databases. Do you see how they could benefit from considering most works of art in the world orphans?
Do you know who owns Corbis? Bill Gates. He doesn't do anything unless it can make a huge amount of money. Helping you lose the copyright to your art is big business for Gates.
For years we've heard of Hollywood fighting with China to protect copyrights and stop the pirating of DVDs. Our government has worked with the studios to protect their investment.
Our government is NOW WORKING AGAINST US by allowing our own fellow citizens TO STEAL OUR CREATIVE WORKS.
It will be easy for them to get away with it unless we make ourselves heard.
Your calls and letters do work. I've seen many instances in which a single letter made a difference in public policy. Tens of thousands of calls and letters help even more.
This is not empty talk. I have written letters to my congressmen and I will do so again. I do what I can to let every creator know about terrible legislation like this... thus you are reading articles like this one and you can listen to interviews I've posted online.
CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATOR:
Go to http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml to quickly find the phone number, address and e-mail of every U.S. senator, U.S. representative, governor and state legislator.
Forward this article to every creator you know and urge them to take a moment to protect their very livelihood. I am giving everyone the right to reprint this article in any form to help spread the word to protect our creative rights.
Instead of sitting around watching TV tonight, TiVo that show, write a letter and make yourself heard.
Letters to our government officials don't have to be long, but they should be heartfelt. A good story helps. Tell them who you are, how this legislation negatively affects you and that you want them to vote against the Orphan Works legislation. It's that easy!
If you don't, you will have only yourself to blame when you see other people making money from your art and you don't see a dime.
Spider-Man comic artist Alex Saviuk is also concerned about the loss of copyright protection. "When I found out all the negative aspects of the new legislation, it would almost behoove us to want to do something else for a living," says Saviuk. "If we would have to register with all the different companies, we would never be able to make a living."
"It would be impossible for me to register all my art," continues Saviuk. "It would put me out of business."
You can listen to my complete interview with Alex online. Think this doesn't apply to you? Maybe you don't license your artwork? How about this?
Photos on the internet could be orphaned. With tens of millions of photos shared online with services like Flickr, Shutterfly and Snapfish, there is a huge opportunity for unauthorized use of your photos... legally.
You could see photos you take of your family and kids, or of a family vacation, used in a magazine or newspaper without your permission or payment to you. You would have to pay to register your photos, all of them, in every new registry in order to protect them. Say the average person takes 300 photos per year (I take a lot more than that). If a registry only charges $5 per image, that is a whopping $1,500 to protect your photos that are protected automatically under the current laws. If there are three registries, protecting your images could cost an amazing $4,500. Not to mention the time it would take to register every photo you take. Plus, you will also have to place your copyright sign on every photo.
That's not including all your art, sketches, paintings, 3D models, animations, etc. Do you really have all that extra time and money? Plus, even if you do register, the people stealing your work can still claim it was orphaned and, unless you fight them, they win. Even if you win, you may not make back your legal fees.
It gets even better. Anyone can submit images, including your images. They would then be excused from any liability for infringement (also known as THEFT) unless the legitimate rights owner (you) responds within a certain period of time to grant or deny permission to use your work.
That means you will also have to look through every image in every registry all the time to make sure someone is not stealing and registering your art. You could actually end up illegally using your own artwork if someone else registers it. DOES ANYONE SEE A PROBLEM WITH THIS?
Do you think the U.S. Copyright Office is here to protect you from this legislation? Think again.
Brad Holland of the Illustrators' Partnership shares his notes from a recent meeting with David O. Carson, general counsel of the Copyright Office.
Printer-friendly version
CkJsdz
It's much easier to unedrtsand when you put it that way!
"If the cost of this is onerous for a U.S.-based artist, what will it be like for artists and small businesses in emergent economies?" "
This really sums it up, we are in a time of unprecedented artistic expression and exposure which has amazing and vast potential in the realm of cultural, socio-political, psychological and philosophical insights and development.
Having said that it is still difficult and expensive for some (all be it talented) artists to buy materials, secure living/working space, internet connection, copyright reg fees, many of whom work 2 -3 jobs to finance the art and then display/ expose it on the internet and after all the sacrifice and hard work they stand only to make small commissions and royalties from print sales etc.
Now if this becomes a realty then there will be no point in bothering, of course people whose artistic urges and genuine creative insights will still try and create work but it will be a select few of "born-rich" people even capable of managing in a system like that:
If your living in a car, working 2-3 jobs and still know that when you've completed this painting etc you'll be donating it and all profits to corporate big wigs and politicians which for the better part cant even understand it, oh and you'll also need to pay them tax for "protecting your rights" against fictional adversaries! twisted twisted stuff!!!!!!
The ridiculous thing is, they will bleed all the creative people so dry that there wont be any art of any substance in this world anymore and they will, like the rivers, forests hack and milk it until it dies then move on to their next unjustified, unearned, undeserved, rape!
You as an artists have within you a natural resource just like water or oil!
why should this particular species see you as anything different!
This is a much bigger issue than some realize.
Crossing my fingers and praying for some common sense, respect, humility and grace in this world, good luck:)
Alakazaam-information found, problem soveld, thanks!
Thank you for sharing ebooknetworking
I am a new viewer and you have provided an excellent piece of information to the viewers of your site .
According to thomas.loc.gov (that's website where you can look up congressional bills), both S. 2913 and HR 5889 were both left hanging in committee.
Lots of anger by some posters, but hey everyone deserves the right to speak their mind.
Thanks for the article,
Draga
Motherfucking american corporations. Motherfucking european union...
Garbage.
The EU have already made sure that a whole herd of small family businesses have been closed down in denmark, because the EU passed rules that control the size of a food business' production area, and the businesses that closed had areas that were too small. Prospering family-owned businesses - some as old as a hundred years old... gone.
We are losing our rights one by one, people, and we're asking for it and welcoming it with open arms... it's fucking time to get off your ass and research the world we live in, pay attention to what's going on, and not take the fucking media's word for anything.
I have never been so pissed off in my entire life... As if it's not bad enough that there are hundreds of millions of pirates out there, who never pay for any of their entertainment, now the people who are supposed to serve US want to make it perfectly legal.
Unbelievable, just unbelievable.
Thanks for your nice and infirmitive article, I am really impressed.
Post new comment