Orphan Works Acts of 2008

I was just reading at Dee's blog about the Orphan Works Acts. This bill is in both the House and the Senate. I posted about it to my Crochet Cabana at yahoogroup. Here is what I wrote:

I am usually not one to get involved in political things, but the orphan works bill affects all artists, including fiber artists like myself. If this bill goes into effect, I will have to consider whether I want to keep Crochet Cabana running because I would be wide open for someone to steal the hundreds of photos and patterns I have on site, without fear of penalty.

I will be keeping a close eye on this matter, but wanted to let you all know so that you can save off patterns and other info if you want to, just in case. Please keep all copyright information with the pattern. That includes the URL of the web site and my name, which should make it easy enough to find me if you need to.

The wheels of Congress sometimes turn slowly so it might be some time before this passes. It may never pass. Or it might be tomorrow.

You can read about the bill and its effects and contact your congressman if you so desire.
http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/

At the bottom of that page you will see the two bills. If you click on the bill, at the bottom of each individual bill's page S. 2913 and H.R. 5889 there is in tiny print the word "detailed" which is a link and you can see what has happened with that bill to that point.

There is already rampant theft of patterns and other information on the Internet. This bill, in my view, would essentially make it easier to do. I design patterns and give them freely out of love of the craft and a desire to help the fiber community members who maybe cannot afford to go out and buy a lot of pattern books and leaflets - those on a limited income, soldiers overseas and those with special needs.

Others may have other reasons for opposing this bill because their primary income comes from the photos, art and other original works that they publish.

I know I cannot afford to officially copyright each photo and pattern I have here. That being the case, the only way to protect them is to remove them and hope that those who already have them will be honest crafters.

I hope you enjoy my work - help me protect it by contacting your congressman if you live in the states!

It's VERY easy to send an e-mail. Just plug in your zip code and a new page will come up with the names of those to whom you need to send a message. Do this for BOTH bills. It will be two different pages - one for the House and one for the Senate - but you can send the same e-mail message if you choose. Remember to be polite and respectful as their office deserves. Let's flood Congress with e-mails and let them know that fiber artists care.

Thanks to Dee for bringing this to our attention.

Sandie