Proposed Orphan Works Bill

We (artists, illustrators, photographers, designers) need your help!

There is a bill in the senate called The Orphan Works Act of 2008. It will endanger the rights of anyone who creates intellectual property.

It will expose your art to commercial infringement. It will include work from professional paintings to family snapshots. It will include published and unpublished work. It will include any image that resides or has ever resided on the internet. It will force you to register every picture you do with privately-held commercial registries. It will make all unregistered works potential orphans.

This radical change to U.S. copyright law will shift the burden of diligence from infringer's to rights holders. It is wrong to give infringer's the right to make money from your property without your knowledge or consent. You should not have to pay businessmen to keep the work you’ve created.The Illustrators Partnership of America has made it very easy for you to contact your representatives.

Take Action: Don't Let Congress Orphan Our Work

2 minutes is all it takes, click to write Congress and protect your copyright:

Just click "Take Action" under each bullet and you can quickly make your voice heard. I just sent to all the links and it really takes very little time. PLEASE take a moment and do the same.

Joanne Fink gives a very good description here of what art licensing is and what this bill will do to artists who make a living from licensing and selling their work: illustrators, designers, artists.