Copyright Law and Orphaned Works
The internet has given us an unprecedented tool
for publishing everything from literature to software. At this moment, I'm just
two mouse clicks away from making this message available to every
internet-connected computer on the entire planet. In the U.S., I can post pretty
much anything I can create, within reason. But suppose I recover a piece of
commercial software from 25 years ago from an old cassette? And suppose that the
copyright holder is nowhere to be found? Can I post
that,
or use it in a derived work? U.S. copyright
law says
no.
But according to an alert I received from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, we now
have an opportunity to change that...
Here's the alert I received from the
EFF:
Action Alert: Help Save Orphan Works!
When you can't find copyright holders, copyright becomes a quagmire. Let's fix it.
For designers, academics, artists, musicians, and filmmakers, using copyrighted works can be a huge headache. It can be impossible to find out if a particular work is still under copyright or not. And even when people would happily pay to use a copyrighted photo, passage, or video clip, it's often impossible (or extremely costly) to find the copyright holder. When this happens, everybody loses. Artists can't realize their creative vision, academics can't clearly communicate their ideas, and copyright holders don't get paid. Even worse, important pieces of our culture get needlessly locked away.
Right now, the US Copyright Office is asking for public comment on the "orphan works" problem, so now's our chance to make the system work better. The Copyright Office has specifically asked for comments from people who have run up against the problem of trying to clear a potentially copyrighted work - either for use in a new creative effort or simply to make the work available to the public once again. If you have a story like this, it's essential you make your voice heard before the March 25th deadline. Click on the link below to submit comments directly to the Copyright Office - you type, and we'll take care of the formatting and submission.
Write to the Copyright Office today - and don't forget to spread the word. If your friends or colleagues are academics, designers, filmmakers, writers, or artists, it's likely that this problem affects them!
<http://www.orphanworks.org/>
This is a great opportunity to fix a problem that's long been a thorn in the side of gamers, classic computer enthusiasts, and artists of all kinds. There's a world of difference between a work that someone is deriving income from and one that's fallen into obsolescence with no hope of ever finding the copyright holder. Here's the response I submitted:
I run a website, cosmacelf.com, an informational resource about an early computer chip. This microprocessor has historical significance because of its extensive use in early space probes, including Voyager, Viking and Galileo. The Voyager probes are the first man-made objects to venture into interstellar space, and the microprocessors at their cores continue to operate several decades later.
Unfortunately, it has also been decades since commercial software was available for this chip, and most of the companies who sold such software have long since vanished. Software which has been preserved by various individuals cannot be legally distributed because of U.S. copyright law, and more often than not there is no way of finding, let alone contacting, the copyright holder.
Besides historical significance, the simplicity of this early microprocessor makes it an excellent teaching platform. That usefulness is diminished when software is unavailable.
Please consider amending copyright law to permit legal distribution of such abandoned software, in a reasonable balance with the legitimate rights of copyright holders.
Let's not miss this opportunity to spread the word and fix the orphaned works problem in copyright law.
Action Alert: Help Save Orphan Works!
When you can't find copyright holders, copyright becomes a quagmire. Let's fix it.
For designers, academics, artists, musicians, and filmmakers, using copyrighted works can be a huge headache. It can be impossible to find out if a particular work is still under copyright or not. And even when people would happily pay to use a copyrighted photo, passage, or video clip, it's often impossible (or extremely costly) to find the copyright holder. When this happens, everybody loses. Artists can't realize their creative vision, academics can't clearly communicate their ideas, and copyright holders don't get paid. Even worse, important pieces of our culture get needlessly locked away.
Right now, the US Copyright Office is asking for public comment on the "orphan works" problem, so now's our chance to make the system work better. The Copyright Office has specifically asked for comments from people who have run up against the problem of trying to clear a potentially copyrighted work - either for use in a new creative effort or simply to make the work available to the public once again. If you have a story like this, it's essential you make your voice heard before the March 25th deadline. Click on the link below to submit comments directly to the Copyright Office - you type, and we'll take care of the formatting and submission.
Write to the Copyright Office today - and don't forget to spread the word. If your friends or colleagues are academics, designers, filmmakers, writers, or artists, it's likely that this problem affects them!
<http://www.orphanworks.org/>
This is a great opportunity to fix a problem that's long been a thorn in the side of gamers, classic computer enthusiasts, and artists of all kinds. There's a world of difference between a work that someone is deriving income from and one that's fallen into obsolescence with no hope of ever finding the copyright holder. Here's the response I submitted:
I run a website, cosmacelf.com, an informational resource about an early computer chip. This microprocessor has historical significance because of its extensive use in early space probes, including Voyager, Viking and Galileo. The Voyager probes are the first man-made objects to venture into interstellar space, and the microprocessors at their cores continue to operate several decades later.
Unfortunately, it has also been decades since commercial software was available for this chip, and most of the companies who sold such software have long since vanished. Software which has been preserved by various individuals cannot be legally distributed because of U.S. copyright law, and more often than not there is no way of finding, let alone contacting, the copyright holder.
Besides historical significance, the simplicity of this early microprocessor makes it an excellent teaching platform. That usefulness is diminished when software is unavailable.
Please consider amending copyright law to permit legal distribution of such abandoned software, in a reasonable balance with the legitimate rights of copyright holders.
Let's not miss this opportunity to spread the word and fix the orphaned works problem in copyright law.
Posted: Fri - February 25, 2005 at 10:29 PM
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