Hey, all.

I've come to add my thoughts to this fear that's going on about Congress legalizing art theft. That's not the case!

So here is an article I found through a journal today [link] .

I went a little bit further and found the testimony the Register of Copyrights gave to the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property, Committee on the Judiciary [link] (I like to have all my facts stright before I go blubbing all around; if I missed something let me know). It's all about "orphaned works" (works like old photographs or movies where the person who wishes to use it can't find the original copyright owner). It also proposes ways to protect the copyright owners of such works should they be found, without hampering people who would like to use their work in such cases. It's actually an easy read, but if you don't care to read the whole thing, the last paragrpah sums it up nicely:

"In closing, we note that millions of orphan works are precluded from productive use by authors, publishers, filmmakers, archives, museums, local historical societies and other users, despite the fact that the copyright owners may never be found. The solution that the Copyright Office has proposed reflects the realities of the problem and creates a framework for limited use. It does not create an exception; nor does it rescind an owner's copyright rights. We look forward to orphan works legislation and we are available to assist that goal in any way we can" -Marybeth Peters; last paragraph of Statement of Marybeth Peters, The Register of Copyrights before the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property, Committee on the Judiciary.

So, Read the DA news article, read the testimony, and inform yourselves.