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#1
09-30-2008, 05:32 PM
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Artists get screwed!
FROM ILLUSTRATORS ' PARTNERSHIP OF AMERICA:
Never Too Busy to Pass Special Interest Legislation 9.28.08 As lawmakers struggled Friday to clean up the mess on Wall Street, sponsors of the Orphan Works Act passed more special interest legislation. Their bill would force copyright holders to subsidize giant copyright databases run by giant internet firms. Like the companies now needing billion dollar bailouts, these copyright registries - which would theoretically contain the entire copyright wealth of the US - would presumably be "too big to fail." Yet it's our wealth, not theirs, the scheme would risk. Small business owners didn't ask for this legislation. We don't want it and we don't need it. Our opposition numbers have been growing daily. So Friday, the bill's sponsors reached for the hotline. What is Hotlining? Critics of hotlining say "that lawmakers are essentially signing off on legislation neither they nor their staff have ever read." "In order for a bill to be hotlined, the Senate Majority Leader and Minority Leader must agree to pass it by unanimous consent, without a roll-call vote. The two leaders then inform Members of this agreement using special hotlines installed in each office and give Members a specified amount of time to object - in some cases as little as 15 minutes. If no objection is registered, the bill is passed." - Roll Call, Sept 17, 2007 In other words, a Senate bill can pass by "unanimous consent" even if some Senators don't know about it. Senators Leahy and Hatch hotlined the Orphan Works Act twice last summer. Each time came at the end of a day, at the end of a week, near the end of a legislative session. Each time lawmakers were distracted by other issues and other plans. Each time artists rallied quickly and each time a Senator put a hold on the bill. Friday the Senators found a new opportunity. With lawmakers struggling to package a 700 billion dollar bailout to avert a worldwide economic meltdown, with the rest of the country focused on Presidential debates, with Washington in chaos and Congressional phone lines jammed, they hotlined an amended bill. On short notice, even the legislative aides we could reach by phone said they didn't have time to read it. And so, while we were rushing to get out a second email blast to artists, the bill passed by "unanimous consent" - in other words, by default. What better way to pass a bill that was drafted in secret than to pass it while nobody's looking? The Senate passed their bill Friday, but the House hasn't. There's still time to write, phone and fax your congressional representatives. Tell them not to let the House Judiciary Committee fold their bill and adopt the Senate's. Tell Congress to protect the private property of small businesses. Lick 'em tomorrow. - Brad Holland and Cynthia Turner, for the Board of the Illustrators' Partnership Quote from "The Devil's Own Day," by Christopher Allen, January 2000 America's Civil War Magazine TAKE ACTION: EMAIL CONGRESS TONIGHT Tell the House Judiciary Committee not to adopt the Senate version. We've supplied a special letter for this purpose: http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartne...ertid=11980321 Please post or forward this message immediately to any interested party. The Orphaned works bill is a an artists worst nightmare. If you are an artist of some sort living off of your art- you will not be able to just get by. This bill will be hitting you hard in your pocket just so you can own your own work. If you don't your work can literally be stolen from your website and copyrighted by a corporate entity and you loose out. Every sketch -every skratch, every painting, and photo, anything of intelectual property that you have ever created and is on the web is fair game- unless you have it re-registered at some new copyright offices. Its almost like we'll be needing barcodes on our artwork soon just so it is legitimately yours. This bill is a migraine for artists and creative people.
__________________
"Little, vicious minds abound with anger and revenge, and are incapable of feeling the pleasure of forgiving their enemies." Earl of Chesterfield "A man that studieth revenge keeps his own wounds green, which otherwise would heal and do well." Francis Bacon 
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#3
09-30-2008, 05:44 PM
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It just keeps getting worse.....
I just clicked the link,i hope it helps:(
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#4
09-30-2008, 05:45 PM
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We're sorry, the page you requested was not found.
If you pasted or followed the link from an email message, please check that the web address is complete. If you continue to experience problems, please email us at [email protected]. Thats what it keeps saying...
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#5
09-30-2008, 06:29 PM
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Shit...and I thought Steven Harper was bad.
__________________
"There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness." - Friedrich Nietzsche
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#6
09-30-2008, 08:03 PM
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According to wired, its dead, for now:
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/200...-works-co.html
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#7
10-01-2008, 06:29 AM
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__________________
"Little, vicious minds abound with anger and revenge, and are incapable of feeling the pleasure of forgiving their enemies." Earl of Chesterfield "A man that studieth revenge keeps his own wounds green, which otherwise would heal and do well." Francis Bacon
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