Drapetomaniac

There’s been a lot of discussion about the Orphans Works Act of 2008. I posted the full textin a prior message, but the Copyright Office also has a resource page on the topic of orphan works including a prior study and report on the issue.

I haven’t quite made up my mind on the issue, but I’m hesitant about anything that makes managing your copyright more difficult. A lot of artists want to share, but a whole lot are also afraid of being exploited. Even getting folks to understand that items licensed under Creative Commons are still copyrighted and protected by law can be a challenge.

I also need to go back and read the report from 2006.

Public Knowledge appears to have a handle on some of the myths and hype.

I have to admit, my fears are more cultural than substantive – the reaction of the artists, which does have blowback in fostering the commons.

We don’t have moral rights in the United States, but that does appear to be one glaring problem. Legally, since we don’t have it, it might not be defensable, but it’s still a concern. And, of course, Puerto Rico does have moral rights in their laws, but our federal laws still trump them – but that’s always a long discussion.