Ariana

   I'm  curious. The internet is worldwide, right? How can one government authorize "legal" theft of artwork from other countries? How can they know the country of origin, without accertaining the artist who created it? Where are all those in the music and movie industries who vehemently protect their own copyrights? Why do they not protest? Why do not other governments protest, to protect the rights of their own artists?

Joe as I have said for the last year many in all forms of the artistic community have been crying fowl and complaining, and warning this bill is just plain akin to theft. So who now knows. I do know a simuliar bill or proposal, is also in the european goverment too. So you would think with the economy issues this would be the last thing on the mind of congress.

So I honestly do not know.

HUgs

Ariana 

 More questions. Why is there never anything on the news about this? Is it not newsworthy? Why hasn't anyone else responded to this thread? Doesn't anyone care? Why did the senate pass this bill unanimously (both presidential and one vice presedential candidates are senators)? Ahh, it doesn't matter. It'll be a done deal very, very soon and that'll be the end of your rights to your own artwork and personal photos on the internet.

Well I would think that obviously there is the presidential campaign, the wall street bs, and then there is always sarah!

Look here for more info....

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?thread_id=2751144

At this point IMVHO, our goverment is ransoming our butts to wall street. So I just about am ready to give up that anyone listens to my letters & calls. I know many others do the same and are just as frustrated.

Hope this helps.

Hugs

Ariana

joe, ideally a government's job is to protect its citizens, but in many cases
the governments prey on them instead.  in general, governments protect the moneyed
interests at the expense of their citizens, as in the recent bailouts of investment banks,
mortgage guarantors and insurance groups in the states and elsewhere.

Ah, but what happens when Renderosity and other art sites, become fishing ponds for those who seek free art?

joe, this and the other major poser sites have been preyed upon, on a minute-by-minute
basis, by tubers and other thieves, for the last decade.  there's not much chance of that
changing.  it just means eternal vigilance.  as cuil and other image-comparison engines
come online and expand their databases (part of the reason why some amendment to
old copyright laws is needed), it will be easier for artists to deal with image thieves.

Latest e-mail.....

FROM THE ILLUSTRATORS' PARTNERSHIP

Orphan Works: The Bill's Not Law Till it's Law     

9.30.08                                                                                     

Yesterday, nearly 5,000 copyright holders wrote Congress. They urged their representatives not to let the House pass the Orphan Works Act (H.R. 5889). They urged them not to scrap the House bill and adopt the Senate's. So far they haven't.

That makes nearly 8,000 of us who've written Congress since last Friday. We thank all of you who've written. Keep writing. Tell others to write. The bill's not law till it's law.

TAKE ACTION: EMAIL CONGRESS NOW
Tell the House Judiciary Committee not to adopt the Senate version.

We've supplied a special letter for this purpose:
http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/issues/alert/?alertid=11980321

Please post or forward this message immediately to any interested party.

For ongoing developments, go to the Illustrators' Partnership Orphan Works Blog: http://ipaorphanworks.blogspot.com/

Over 75 organizations oppose this bill, representing over half a million creators. Illustrators, photographers, fine artists, songwriters, musicians, and countless licensing firms all believe this bill will harm their small businesses.

The Capwiz site is open to professional creators and any member of the image-making public.  International artists will find a special link, with a sample letter and instructions as to whom to write.

If you received our mail as a forwarded message, and wish to be added to our mailing list, email us at: illustratorspartnership@cnymail.com Place "Add Name" in the subject line, and provide your name and the email address you want used in the message area.

Please post or forward this email to any interested party.

Newest E-Mail....

FROM THE ILLUSTRATORS' PARTNERSHIP

Orphan Works: Connect the Dots     

9.30.08                                                                                     

1. Web firms quietly win copyright victory in Congress

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) Sept 29 -- As the media turned its attention last weekend to battles on Capitol Hill over the fate of the proposed Wall Street bailout bill, Internet companies including Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. quietly walked away with a legislative victory that could facilitate their use of copyrighted material.

The Senate on Friday passed the Orphan Works Act of 2008, legislation that weakens copyright protection for works whose owners cannot be located. The legislation has now been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.

The legislation requires only that a company make a "reasonably diligent" search to locate a copyright owner before using their work in media including the Internet, and limits compensation required for the use of an infringed work. 

-By John Letzing, MarketWatch Sept. 29, 2008
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/web-firms-quietly-win-copyright/story.aspx?guid={E21206C0-98F5-459B-9506-8133CBD82859}&dist=hpts

1. Google Acknowledges Copyright Infringement Claims Could Harm Business

ILLUSTRATORS PARTNERSHIP Sept 30 -- In March 2007, Google filed a mandatory 10-Q Filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In it, they acknowledged: "copyright claims filed against us [by copyright owners] alleging that features of certain of our products and services, including Google Web Search, Google News, Google Video, Google Image Search, Google Book Search and YouTube, infringe their rights."

Google admitted that "[a]dverse results in these lawsuits may include awards of substantial monetary damages, costly royalty or licensing agreements or orders preventing us from offering certain functionalities, and may also result in a change in our business practices, which could result in a loss of revenue for us or otherwise harm our business." (Italics added.)

--Brad Holland and Cynthia Turner, Illustrators Partnership
http://investor.google.com/documents/20070331_10-Q.html

1. Google Sees Value in Orphan Works

ILLUSTRATORS PARTNERSHIP March 8, 2006 -- At the Copyright Office's Orphan Works Roundtables, July 26-27, 2005, Alexander MacGilivray of Google stated:

 "The thing that I would encourage the Copyright Office to consider is not just the very, very small scale -the one user who wants to make use of the [orphan] work - but also the very, very large scale - and talking in the millions of works. - page 21

 "Google strongly believes that these orphan works are both worthwhile, useful, and extremely valuable." - page 119

"We expect that our use of these orphan works will likely be in the 1 million works range..." (Italics added.) - page 166

"[W]e know that many of them  [orphan works] will be in the public domain, that most of their authors won't care. But there are a few [authors] that really will care and they will come forward [to claim authorship] and it will be extremely inefficient for us." (Italics added.) -page 166
(Page numbers are from Copyright Office transcripts.)

Orphan Works Roundtables were held by the US Copyright Office July 26-7, 2005 in Washington DC
http://www.copyright.gov/orphan/transcript/0726LOC.PDF

1. Google Donates $3 Million to U.S. Library of Congress

Australian IT Nov 23, 2005 -- The U.S. Library of Congress is kicking off a campaign to work with other nation's libraries to build a World Digital Library, starting with a $US3 million donation from Google.

-Eric Auchard in San Francisco | November 23, 2005
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,17339145%5E15409%5E%5Enbv%5E15306-15322,00.html

TAKE ACTION: EMAIL CONGRESS NOW
http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/issues/alert/?alertid=11980321

Please post or forward this message immediately to any interested party.

For news and information:
Illustrators' Partnership Orphan Works Blog: http://ipaorphanworks.blogspot.com/

Over 75 organizations oppose this bill, representing over half a million creators. Illustrators, photographers, fine artists, songwriters, musicians, and countless licensing firms all believe this bill will harm their small businesses.

U.S. Creators and the image-making public can email Congress through the Capwiz site: http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/ 2 minutes is all it takes to tell the U.S. Congress to uphold copyright protection for the world's artists.

INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS please fax these 4 U.S. State Agencies and appeal to your home representatives for intervention. http://www.illustratorspartnership.org/01_topics/article.php?searchterm=00267

CALL CONGRESS: 1-800-828-0498.  Tell the U.S. Capitol Switchboard Operator "I would like to leave a message for Congressperson  __________ that I oppose the Orphan Works Act."  The switchboard operator will patch you through to the lawmaker's office and often take a message which also gets passed on to the lawmaker. Once you're put through tell your Representative the message again.

If you received our mail as a forwarded message, and wish to be added to our mailing list, email us at: illustratorspartnership@cnymail.com Place "Add Name" in the subject line, and provide your name and the email address you want used in the message area.

 
STOP THE ORPHAN WORKS ACT NOW.
 
 

Quote - I do know a simuliar bill or proposal, is also in the european goverment too.

Could you give a link where this is posted. I live in Germany but haven't heard about something like this. 

Yes if you go to the Illustrators partnership link there is a video that lays out this bill and also the one in Europe as well. There is a link in there But off hand I do not know it and am pressed with extra family from the hurricane in Texas, and am only on line for about 3 minutes a day til they leave this next week! :( Sorry... but it is in there.

Hugs

Ariana