Wednesday, May 14, 2008

The Orphan Works Bill

Quite simply, my friends...this is fucked.
All you illustrators/designers/painters/photographers/whatever that are unfamiliar with this, take heed.
Admittedly, I didn't pay much attention until I found out that non-U.S. citizens can make their voices heard via this letter that you can personalize.
Having just listened to a Brad Holland interview on the topic, I'm feeling rather nauseated, on the real.
In a nutshell, this bill does away with the entitled copyright of any visuals you create, published or not. In order to protect your work, you'll have to pay for anything you do to be registered via registry firms that don't currently exist. If you don't, someone will have the right to use your work like it was something in the public domain...and you aren't even fucking dead yet. Here's the kicker: if you do end up getting ripped off, you'll then have to prove in a court of law that you were. Without having your images registered via these non-existent firms, you'll have an uphill battle.
So, yeah. Pretty got-damn ridiculous, eh? Now:
  1. ...to get quickly familiar with this situation (if I haven't fully convinced you), read this post at Drawn!, then get angry.
  2. Follow that with a full listen to the Brad Holland interview (option/right click). Get angrier.
  3. After you're done throwing furniture, follow those instructions outlined in the Drawn! post.
I know I will.