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(cross-posted to dA and LiveJournal)

So, very recently a highly frightening, but very over-the-top, reactionary, and sensationalist ageone&article_no=3605"article by Mark Simon has been circulating through art communities. The writer of that article claimed that there was currently legislation before Congress that would "legalize art theft". I admit that my immediate reaction was to be outraged and panicked. However, I chose to do some research before completely and publicly flying into a rage.

I found out a lot, but rather than repeat it all I'll point you to a very good article written by Meredith L. Patterson in her LiveJournal "Radio Free Meredith": Six Misconceptions about Orphaned Works. It's the best, point-by-point breakdown of the issue I've seen thus far.

I think the most important things to note are that 1.) this "bill" does not even exist. It's something that is being discussed but there is no actual proposal currently before Congress. and 2.) It doesn't really change much for unregistered copyright holders.

Seriously, if your copyrights are unregistered, your legal power in infringement matters is already limited. Without a registered copyright, you can demand compensation and order them to stop using your work, but you can't sue for other damages or attorney fees. Also, in a dispute the burden of proof is pretty much on you to somehow show that you are the rightful copyright holder.

Also, if someone searches for you and fails to find you to get your permission to use your work, this does not mean that it falls into the public domain forever. If you find out and show up to say "Hey! That's mine!" it ceases to be an "orphaned work". What changes is that if the user can prove that they made an honest search to find you, that the legal action that can be taken against them is limited. You'll be able to issue a "cease and desist" or demand compensation, but you won't be able to sue for infringement (unless they continue to use it without compensating you, or refuse to stop using it after being ordered to).

That said, the issue has reminded me that it would probably be a good idea to register copyrights on my artwork, which I will be looking into. Meredith's post includes some useful tips for registering bulk amounts of work affordably.

And of course, if you still think this is a problem, and think this sort of legislation would have too many loopholes to be exploited, then by all means write your congresspeople about it. I'm going to wait until there's actually an official written draft to argue with, however.

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Upcoming Conventions: Otakon 2008. August 8th-10th Baltimore, MD