So I was reading through a magazine named ImagineFX, when I saw this article about Copyright Chaos. So I just though I would update you guys as well, after all, deviantART is the biggest ART community online. Although this is mainly towards Americans, I do think that the rest of the world should know.

The assault on justice

Copyright Chaos As the US considers the Orphan Works bill - a new copyright law that will seriously diminish the rights of image creators - fantasy artists are weighing in against it ...

Leading digital artist Jason Manley has fired a shot across the bow of the US legislators behind the proposed Orphan Works bill, currently being considered by the Senate and House of Representatives. The bill will change copyright legislation, saying that if somebody has found a piece of artwork they'd like to use, they can go ahead and use it if they cannot find the orginator of the work.

"The bill is written in a way that says if one diligently searches - whatever that means - for the art creator and cannot find them, then that potential buyer gets to do whatever they want with it, including making money," says Jason, President of Massive Black, and a founder of ConceptArt.org. "Not only that" he continues, "but there would be problems with how artist are paid if people do steal their works. In my mind that is bulls**t."

Many US artists and photographers are opposing the bill, which will amend the 1976 Copyright Act and cut away at their intellectual property rights. The bill proposes that artist wishing to protect their copyright will have to file their workds with as yet unnamed commercial registries, who will be able to charge a fee. For an artist with a career's worth of work (thousands of images) the cost would be prohibitive. Jason offers a solution : sites like ConceptArt.org could act as free registries for fantasy artists (or any other type of artist), cutting out profiteering private registries, and putting potential buyers directly in touch with any artwork they might want to use.

The threat of copyright infringement is real. Recently Miami-based artist Patrick Reilly - whose work regularly appears in IFX - was informed that a Greek magazine had used some of his work. Tt came as a shock as he hadn't been commissioned by them, nor had they asked permission. "I'm still looking over my options as to what can be done about this situation, or if it's even worth pursuing. Since this is happening overseas it will probably be as more difficult problem in regards to taking legal actions," he explain slightly wearily.

For Patrick, the value of copyright protection comes in terms of both cash and principles. "One hundred per cent of my income comes from my artwork, so anytime I see this kind of thing it's only natural that I would want my work protected. And even if I didn't make a living from my artwork, why should someone else be reaping the benefits of my hard work ?"

Will the Orphan Works bill become law in its current form? We can't say, but being aware of copyright and taking steps to protect it is something every artist can do. Nicolette Hamilton of the Association of Illustrators in the UK reguarly advicemembers when copyright questions are raised. Like Jason Manley, one step she recommends is include digital watermarks in all of the images you create.

"When putting your work on your own website you can assert your rights with a declaration like Copyright of artist, all rights reserved. It would be sensible to put this on all other promotional material as well," she says.

'If you upload work to flickr, Facebook or even enter an art competition, make sure you read the small print. Often it entails handing copyright over to the host," she add.



So what do you think of this statement, is it fair on artist ? Should this law become available, where would our artist who work full time freelancer, go to ? I would like to hear your opinion ! So please make sure they're heard
Also sorry for the fact that it's long but it's important that everyone reads this and understand.

*Also, this is old news but it got re-inforced recently.

=Sangiev