Blogs / Public Knowledge | Fighting for your digital rights in Washington. / 2,725 blog reactions

by Mark Simon from Animation World Magazine . There has since been an articulate and informed rebuttal by Marybeth Peters from the American copyright office. There is a breakdown of the process to date available on the Public Knowledge blog. It’s an issue, like our own Resale Right bill, which requires and deserves research and careful thought. Although I cannot currently put together a more comprehensive review and/or response to these bills, these links will perhaps form a

http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml Resources: H.R.5889 Orphan Works Act of 2008 (Introduced in House): http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.5889: Public Knowledge: Orphan Works http://www.publicknowledge.org/issues/ow [this site is pro-legislation on the issue but provides a good explanation of the other side of the issue]

The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved a bill today to make it easier for scholars, archivists, and others to use orphan works. These are books, films, and other creations whose owners cannot be identified. Those who redistribute the material risk incurring penalties for copyright infringement.

Seems to me that such a legal precedent would be quite detrimental to the software industry – particularly its future in light of mash-ups and other yet-to-be-discovered techniques of innovation. The EFF weighs in on this, as does Public Knowledge. In this case, it’s unclear to me why Blizzard is trying to use legal control over their application, when they should be exerting application control. Why not change the software to prevent this cheat – freeze it out like a bricked iPhone?

American Library Association Common Cause National Association of State PIRGs (U.S. PIRG) Flint River Hospital Afro-Netizen Loyola University Chicago, Department of Communications Quicksilver Communications Alex Curtis of Public Knowledge made a short video that gives a clear idea of the ways losing Network Neutrality could affect you. If the embedded player below won't work for you, you can view the video here, at YouTube. Save The Internet is not the only web site speaking out

Let's keep the pork and politics out of it and do what is necessary to guarantee the public free access to this treasure trove of material culture while supporting, if they are ever found, the creators. pdf of the The Orphan Works Act of 2008 Post at O'Reilly's Tools of Change blog with some good links

of our material culture is locked away for fear of litigation. Most institutions have conducted exhaustive searches to try track down the owners, but for pretty much all of these orphans the owners cannot be found. Both the Senate and the House have introduced legislation that address this travesty. Both are considerate of each party and provide for compensation if the owner ever turns up. Julie Mellby at Princeton University's Graphic Arts blog posts a copy of the letter

Comcast blocking of BitTorrent

The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved a bill today to make it easier for scholars, archivists, and others to use orphan works. These are books, films, and other creations whose owners cannot be identified. Those who redistribute the material risk incurring penalties for copyright infringement.

more info >> http://newsgrist.typepad.com/underbelly/2008/05/support-the-orp.html http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/1478 Definition of an Orphan Work: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphan_works http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/1553 http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2008/05/07/asmp-supports-orphan-works-bill/ http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/1553