The Blood of Patriots

Why do we allow laws to be passed to make immoral acts legal?

One of the new Bills going through the Congress these days is the ‘Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008′S.2913 & H.R.5889 (See links below for more information) After reading both Bills my head is spinning. You have to know ‘Double Speak’ to understand the laws these days.

Senator Leahy describes it as such, “Our legislation permits the use of an orphan work only if the potential user performs and documents a good faith search for the copyright owner. If users cannot locate and contact copyright owners, they may use the orphan work.”

This sounds like a fine idea for those who want to restore an old photo for personal use and cannot fine the original photographer or for a library to display letters of WWII solider who cannot be found. (Examples given by the writers of this legislation) I’m all on board when it comes to personal use and it’s displayed in public as art and/or education.

Representative Lamar Smith adds, “Millions of copyrighted works are effectively ‘locked up’ and unable to be enjoyed by the public due to our current copyright system. As a result, investments in new works and expositions by libraries, museums and others are frequently not undertaken due to the possibility of lawsuits and large statutory damage awards…” But wait, isn’t this the whole idea of copyright protection. I create something and you want to use it to create income you have to compensate me. Basic business principles and quite fair. However, the keyword in his statement is ‘OTHERS’ and this is where I throw up the red flag!

Who are these ‘Others’ and why do they need this so called ‘Orphaned’ work? It seems to me this ‘Other’ wants to use someone else’s work to earn income and not compensate the author. This is a double edge sword that hurts both the original author and current ones. Let me explain, say ‘Other’ uses an image to sell their latest bar of soap. They’ve gone through the legal channels, as proposed, and can’t find the artist. ‘Other’ reports sales through the roof because of this image. That means the original artist gets no compensation and, I feel more importantly, a working artist does not get the opportunity to create something new and receive compensation. ‘Other’ is making money, but no one else.

We are losing our humanity. Where’s the call of sharing wealth for all in these times? Exploiting others for personal gain has wreaked havoc on our society and has created a have and have not world. What ever happened to the idea of technology and efficiency to allow us all to share in the riches and responsibilities, have more time with our family and friends, to learn, travel and be creative? I’m sick and tired of policy that discourages creativity and encourages ‘Others’ to exploit the citizens and non-citizens alike. (This legislation is worst for authors outside of the USA, where it is near impossible to protect their work.)

What troubles me is the the ‘good faith’ these legislators have in ‘good faith’. These are the same people that brought you the Patent Reform Act of 2007 S.1145. Which included such provisions as:

• Modifies the conditions under which a patent may be obtained, including basing patent granting in part on filing dates (often referred to as a “first-to-file” system). (Got stuck in traffic, you lose your patent.)
• Requires that a subsequent patent application which names an inventor or joint inventor in a previous application (currently, an application which is filed by an inventor or inventors named in a previous application) have the same effect as though filed on the date of the previous application. (My new invention can be dated in the past?)
• Repeals provisions requiring that each federal circuit judge be a resident of the circuit for which the judge is appointed. (This repeal affects all circuit judges, regardless of whether they are hearing cases related to patents.) (This one is my favorite! It has absolutely nothing to do with patents.)

Senator Leahy ends his statement with, “I am especially pleased to name this bill for Shawn Bentley. Several years ago, Shawn died, tragically young, but he left behind a legacy of affection and regard for all of us who knew him. He served Senator Hatch as a counsel for intellectual property, and it was he who first inspired this effort on orphan works. Naming this bill for him is a testament to his dedication to the issue, and his value to the Judiciary Committee.”

Which comes back to - Who is Shawn Bentley?

As Senator Hatch puts it in a tribute to Mr. Bentley, “What can you say about a 41-year-old man who died… Shawn worked for the Judiciary Committee for a decade, from 1993 to 2003. Starting as my counsel, in the minority, Shawn worked on a variety of legal issues, from healthcare antitrust, to radiation compensation, to the balanced budget amendment. He rose through the ranks, ending his Senate tenure as the majority’s chief intellectual property counsel and deputy chief counsel to the committee, one of the top jobs in the Senate.”
“In the Senate, the major bills Shawn helped write are among the most important laws in the intellectual property world: the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act; the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the American Inventors Protection Act, the Patent Fee Integrity and Innovation Protection Act, the Anti-Counterfeiting Consumer Protection Act, and the Trademark Dilution Act, just to name a few.”
“Although we were sad to see him leave the Senate, I was so proud of him when he joined Time Warner as vice president of intellectual property and global public policy.”

Interesting career change. I often wonder how someone so entrenched in the so called public good and democracy can enter the private sector in a position that is so undemocratic and vice versa. Yes, I think corporations are the most undemocratic entity within our society. And this is where we get to the real meat of the problems facing the people of today. These days corporations are setup in a top-down dictatorship style organization. And, the people in charge are protected from prosecution when the decisions they make harm others or the planet. There is no accountability! I don’t mean to pick on the late Mr. Bentley, there are many more. But, where does he and the likes stand? For the good of the people or the corporation. I just want to point out who are writing the laws and who is running this country and who benefits most. It’s quite obvious, just look at our current vice president. A sick ideology has become entrenched in our society that has eroded the mantra of Liberty and Equality for All.

So, do these ‘OTHERS’ have morals? Their actions speak otherwise. Do we want to be lead by or approve of laws that are written by the very ones who don’t believe in equality for all? I encourage you to look into this issue in more depth and take action in what ever way you see fit.

“In All We Trust”
Senator

Take Action:
Email your representatives!
Articles:
AWN
An Interview with Brad Holland of the Illustrator’s Partnership
The SAA Orphan Works Blog
Public Knowledge
National Press Photographers Association
Intellectual Property Watch
American Society of Media Photographers
Ars Technica
Plagiarism Today
Organizations:
Free Culture
Illustrator’s Partnership
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Government:
Copyright
Senator Leahy Press Release
Library of Congress - Thomas
For those in favor:
Save Orphan Works

Some Rights Reserved:
Creative Commons