Copyright Protection Loss

[Naomi]

This is really messed up, all art everywhere is about to lose copyright protection unless you pay to have it registered. this means things like sketchbooks online, watermark free images and all kinds of other artistic community projects would come to a halt due to scares over having your work stolen legally unless you register it with a government database.

Something about this just tells me the corporations are lobbying so they can take art for free without paying an artist everytime they want to use a new image, which is rediculous. THis is reallly scary, and I mean the stuff on this forum too, if you get into a lawsuit it could take years to sort out the cost and complications even if you come out on top in court.

Here is an audio interview with Brad Phillips of the Illustrator's Partnership. It includes a summary with links to the bill in congress and government contacts.

http://www.sellyourtvconceptnow.com/orphan.html


IMPORTANT MATTER FOR ARTISTS - ConceptArt.Org News-Brad Holland Interview
Hi everyone,
The email below will be self-explanatory. There is an important issue facing us as artists, related to the copyrights of our works, which corporations wish to control and take at our expense. You could lose ownership of the art you create. We must put a stop to this immediately unless you wish to see others owning and plagiarizing your art.

This is too important to ignore please participate and forward to your others.
http://www.sellyourtvconceptnow.com/orphan/orphan_works_information.mp3
http://maradydd.livejournal.com/374886.html
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=609199
http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=121132
Congress is rushing these bills through to a floor vote. The House will start marking up their version of the bill at 2:00 today; the Senate will do so tomorrow. To try to stop this bill, we first need to slow down the race to get it passed.
FROM THE ILLUSTRATORS' PARTNERSHIP
Take Action: Don't Let Congress Orphan Our Work
We've set up an online site for visual artists to e-mail their Senators and Representatives with one click.
This site is open to professional artists, photographers and any member of the image-making public.
We've provided sample letters from individuals representing different sectors of the visual arts.
If you're opposed to the Orphan Works act, this site is yours to use.
For international artists and our colleagues overseas, we've provided a special link, with a sample letter and instructions as to whom to write.

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

http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/

Please forward this message to every artist you know.

Conceptart.Org

[Catalytic Subterfuge]

ZOINKS!!!!!! This is a sad thing!

[Luke Saint]

This is bad news man. OMG, how much freelance art is on the internet to be stolen, I mean... The internet is a prime means of displaying one's talents and if the ability to surreptitiously expose another's work without credit is dilated than it is just going to lead to less art and less freewill to talent. Sucks...

[Naomi]

Well I think what it means is the world is coming to an end.....

anyways this is bad, the bill was supposed to go through today or tomorrow, I'm still trying to figure that one out...

[Luke Saint]

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:H.R.5439:

[Luke Saint]

Naomi, I say this with all due hesitation, you need to calm down. While it CAN exploit artists like you, it most likely targets unsolicited artists who pander their works for ad campaigns, publicity enterprises, etc...

PS
If you want to kill me, my heart is located at 1564o Longitude x 1874o Latitude. (made up, though I'd give the real if known)

PPS
I'm not kidding, but your work should be OK if you don't have high-trafficed artwork that is available on heavily visited websites, if so - get it off.

[Naomi]

Well whatever, I refuse to resignate myself to silence on the matter of people speculating about my emotional state over the godamn internet, especially when it's almost never accurate.

Throw in a few choice swear words and un-accented phrases proclaiming death and doom and suddenly I'm an emotional wreck incapable of carrying on with my life...

wtf ever...

[Luke Saint]

It was a literary expression... but OK. I'm sorry, I did speak irrationally and irresponsibly and shall consider my actions before I allow my words to meet your eyes again. I'm sorry.

[m1thr0s]

could we just once not turn a matter that impacts many people into a personal quarrel between a couple of people?

I think we need a little more information on this but it definitely doesn't look good...I don't know why they are pushing this thing through so fast and as quietly as possible...

who the hell is Shawn Bentley anyway?

m1

[Naomi]

A Time-Warner lobbyist...who is dead, but the bill is named after him.

It would make sense a media giant like Time-Warner would love to reap the benefits of this fucking thing.

[m1thr0s]

thanks...it's hard to get any information on this jerk...

here's another disturbing article on this as to how it will impact photography in particular:
http://photobusinessforum.blogspot.com/2008/05/orphan-works-2008-wolf-in-sheeps.html

it also includes an easy-to-oppose links array at the end...

m1

[MythMath]

If this is something fishy, designed to benefit corporations
at the expense of the individual, then there's probably no
better time to try to sneak it past the public into law...

Something tells me we may see more of this kind
of thing before the 'changing of the guard'...

Opportunities like this to rig the system
may not be as prevalent in the future...

[Naomi]

OK that article m1thr0s posted about photography and museum preservation helps explain almost everything, now I can see the angle of where it was coming from originally. I want to be able to publish my work anywhere without worry about someone stealing it for their next ad campaign or allowing businesses to forgo using artists at all - we have few enough jobs available to us as is. And who's going to profit? Walmart, Target, Macy's and shareholders of those corporations. I hate this. It's so stupid...I've almost always allowed people to use my art with permission as long as they just ask, and it's always for non-profit causes.

I'm going to put my Deviantart account back up just so I can spread the word some more...

If this is something fishy, designed to benefit corporations
at the expense of the individual, then there's probably no
better time to try to sneak it past the public into law...

Something tells me we may see more of this kind
of thing before the 'changing of the guard'...

Opportunities like this to rig the system
may not be as prevalent in the future...

Right well, let's hope you're right, I somehow doubt we'll even have any fucking time to worry about laws by the time the third decade of this millenium hits...so maybe it's all just more craziness to gear up for when it won't even fucking matter if your painting is on some bootleg t-shirt in Zimbabwe or Singapore...

[m1thr0s]

I think I have enough information to oppose, using the links provided in post #11.

I've copied a simple message insert to my clipboard as follows:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your average monkey could have drafted this bill better.

Trying to rush it through as quietly as possible will only blow up in your face.

It is ill-conceived and needs to be rewritten to serve all concerned parties' vested interests.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If it's easier for others to do so, feel free to use it. I don't think a long-winded messgage will do any good anyway...politicians seldom read anything anymore anyway...

I'm just going to go right down the list and hit oppose on every single link...should take maybe 3-5 minutes tops...

you all do as you like...

m1

[Naomi]

Oh I went a little simpler actually:

"This bill is horrible, I won’t vote for you if you pass it. I’ll be fucking watching you!!!"

(they, the congressional leaders, don't actually read these, i am sure of it.)

(instead their little secretaries do it for them)

(might as well give them a laugh)

[Luke Saint]

My computer's slow, but I'm sending disapproving emails to each and every one of those addresses, for what it's worth...

[Naomi]

Okay thanks Luke Saint

I found this on CA a moment ago:


I spoke briefly to Lorne Lanning a while back and he mentioned that he felt that it was actually places like google that would benefit the most (with the giant hordes of art and images and videos). Surely they want to be able to use all those images that they are compiling...


- Jason Manley (Founder, Massive Black and conceptart.org)

[m1thr0s]

a few of these shitheads (all republicans) have complicated contact forms that dissuade you to express an opinion by asking for ridiculous reems of information nobody needs...

so fuck them...this type of action is cursory anyway...

I don't understand why Democracy Now hasn't picked up this story...if we are going to contact anybody, maybe contacting people who can expedite matters is actually more effective...

m1

[m1thr0s]

ok...so here's an amusing little update: roughly 90% of the emails I sent out came back as undeliverable!

tell me we aren't living in a godamm fascist regime.

so I think that contacting news media people will probably fare better.

m1

[Luke Saint]

all republicans
(taken out of context)

duh...

My fingers have typed enough, I made it to:
Hon. Zoe Lofgren
(D) 16th California

Then I have to wait to type more personalized friendly disagreement letters. For what it's worth...

[Luke Saint]

ok...so here's an amusing little update: roughly 90% of the emails I sent out came back as undeliverable!

tell me we aren't living in a godamm fascist regime.

so I think that contacting news media people will probably fare better.

m1

I'll kill em.... I typed so much... I kill em...

LOL

[Naomi]

They came back undeliverable to me too, I can't believe it, what the hell...

[m1thr0s]

reality check naomi...these assholes don't give a shit about real people...
any dipshit can maintain a working email address and these are public servants...they have a godamm obligation to do so. The fact of the matter is that they just don't care.

but they really don't like negative press...so that's what you have to ignite.

but hey, arlen spectre's got through! I very much doubt arlen spectre even knows how to read...

m1

[Naomi]

Well, I'm going to talk to a few people and get back to you all later...

[Luke Saint]

Yep, got 9 emails back. 6 were "failure". The rest were automated responses back.... Sorry.

[m1thr0s]

all part of the game...

the political machine is wired to create a sense of disenfranchisement by every legal loophole available to it...

you just have to assume this to be the case and seek out the higher levels...

if they weren't vulnerable someplace, they wouldn't be covering their nuts so hard...

m1

[Luke Saint]

all part of the game...

the political machine is wired to create a sense of disenfranchisement by every legal loophole available to it...

you just have to assume this to be the case and seek out the higher levels...

if they weren't vulnerable someplace, they wouldn't be covering their nuts so hard...

m1

Thanks m1, but you're preaching to the choir. I follow politics too keenly myself. Rush Limbaugh is an ASSHOLE!! LOL.

Thanks for the response man, later.

[m1thr0s]

maybe we can use this situation as a basic activism 101 primer is all...

like how to even express your disapproval of something, for starters...

m1

[Naomi]

are you saying I could be more polite?

[m1thr0s]

???...no...I'm speaking solely in terms of how to even contact these so-called public servants at all, since they obviously go out of their way to make it difficult...

moreover I don't think it matters much...I do not for one instant believe they give a damn about anything other than their own careers. That's the kind of system we have in place here and that's what we're up against when we try to channel anything through it...

so when an issue comes up that you want to do something about, you have to look in other directions...grass-roots organizing is still the most effective way to get anything done but it takes time. In this case you would want to start networking with other arts organizations (most likely) and media organizations generally I think...

sometimes petitions can be effective...at slowing things down at least. I don't know if anybody has got an actual petition going on with this thing yet.

m1

[MythMath]

Being polite (or not) isn't the issue if the
emails are returned as undeliverable...

[Naomi]

ok so I can continue to be rude then?

<eg>

[m1thr0s]

sure...but why should anybody care?

it's easy to dismiss rudeness as ignorance and/or impotence...

but I'm not rolling in that one...are you?

m1

[Naomi]

Ok I'm trying to be serious so I'll just be quiet now....

lol

Mike Corriero, a well known artist over at CA writes:


I'd love to modify certain legal laws, so I can just walk into the homes of the men and women pushing to pass this bill and steal whatever I want while they sleep. Without legal action taken against me.

Then say, "well I did knock and say hello but no one answered so I figured it was ok to take whatever was laying around, after all the door was open

[m1thr0s]

I hate it when intelligent people resort to pipe-dreams right in the thick of a battle...

pull your head out pal...there's still a few things that can be done here...

oh well...

m1

[m1thr0s]

I want to see if anybody is running any petitions on this...I'll get back.

edit: NPPA Resource Link: http://www.nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2008/05/orphan02.html

later: ok...found one: http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/no-to-orphan-works-act.html

If this issue concerns you I would sign this petition as a starting point. Even though they are trying to push this thing through in haste it has been shot down before so there is a chance of it being shot down again...petitions are generally stronger than one-on-one complaints to civil servants who don't really give a shit anyway...

but there are a lot of people who do care about this issue so the key is getting linked to that momentum...right now this petition has less than 10,000 signatures (just over 9,000) which is pathetic...those numbers need to be much higher than that...so that's one area that can be focused on...sign it...encourage others to sign it...link it to your blog or website...and look for other things you can do from there...

odds are it's too late already, the way they are slamming this shit at us in the dark...but you can't be certain of that and the only other thing to be done will be to repeal the damn thing once it's been passed by these shitheads. It's possible that they know that...the authors of the bill I mean...and are just looking to garner whatever profit can be had from making a godamm mess of things...

I have to say...I really do completely despise capitalist fucking slobs...I know exactly what they are thinking before they even think it because there is only one goddam thing in life they give a flying crap about. But that is definitely another rant for another day.

I will say this...it is erroneous to complain that capitalism is an evil in itself...that isn't accurate and that's not the problem...the problem is that it is only a half-truth and that's all it's ever been...a half-truth in a whole world that has as much an obligation to evolve as everything else. Suddenly it has dug its heels in and is refusing to evolve...and that's where the evil enters in...

which comes at an especially bad time...the stakes are very high...it will be difficult to fix this shit in time.

m1

[content persephone]

There is also a petition available through Care2 and on the petition site on Facebook. It's called "Ban the Orphan Works Bill".

Here is a link to get there:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/protect-artists-rights

[m1thr0s]

hey that's great cp! might as well sign them all...takes less time than designing your average animated gif... :D

m1

[MythMath]

Any news on this topic...

Have we lost all our art to the thieves...?

[m1thr0s]

looks like they passed the piece-o-shit...

err, *approved*...not quite the same thing I guess...still goes to a vote.

what else is new with these morons...

follow-up action tips:

http://www.nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2008/05/orphan03.html

m1

[content persephone]

thanks for the link, m1 - there is a lot of good information on that site, also, on what this bill/law will actually say. I still don't agree with it at all - but apparently it's quite a bit better than the last one that was heading through the legislature. so there's that (?).

There seem to be several cheap-ish, probably adequate, sites to help one copyright all their internet works for under $100, almost 1/2 that on some of them that I found with a simple search.

If one went ahead and did that - then this law really shouldn't effect them - a good faith effort must always be made to find the copyright owner or normal "infringement" laws would apply.

even so, i am seriously hating on our corporate-owned administration right now.