Since I doubt I will get around to re-recording the problematic and no longer current podcast anytime soon, here are the related links about the Copyright Office Report on Orphan Works.
This Report addresses the issue of “orphan works,” a term used to describe the situation where the owner of a copyrighted work cannot be identified and located by someone who wishes to make use of the work in a manner that requires permission of the copyright owner. Even where the user has made a reasonably diligent effort to find the owner, if the owner is not found, the user faces uncertainty – she cannot determine whether or under what conditions the owner would permit use. Where the proposed use goes beyond an exemption or limitation to copyright, the user cannot reduce the risk of copyright liability for such use, because there is always a possibility, however remote, that a copyright owner could bring an infringement action after that use has begun.
Brennan Center, Free Expression Policy Project: A Big Step Forward on “Orphan Works”: “Without doubt, there will be much discussion and debate over the Copyright Office’s proposal once it is introduced in Congress. If enacted, it will represent a big improvement over the current situation, and will enable many worthy orphans to find new homes.”
Cathy Kirkman, Silicon Valley Media Law Blog: Copyright Office reports on orphaned works: “This proposal seems like a reasonable step to create some flexibility in the system, in light of the confluence of an extended copyright term with no formalities to maintain copyright interests and the fact that copyrights are regularly implicated through today’s digital uses.”
Joe Gratz: Copyright Office Issues Orphan Works Recommendations “After an initial look at the proposed statute, it appears to strike a desirable balance between lessening the risk to users of orphan works and providing appropriate compensation to resurfacing copyright holders. ”
Eric Goldman, Technology & Marketing Law Blog: Orphan Works Report Released: “My initial reaction is that there is a lot to commend this proposal. It addresses one of the big problems of copyright law–the across-the-board strict liability standard–by providing a more robust defense for those trying to do the right thing. (The current defense of “innocent infringement” offers little comfort to secondary users–there’s still a lot of money on the table in an infringement claim).”
Photo District News: Photo Groups Lobby To Protect Copyright “Orphans”: “Some photographer groups, however, see this as a nightmare proposal that will blast a huge hole in copyright law. They envision companies trolling the Internet for unclaimed images to resell.”
Jerry Brito and Bridget Dooling, An Orphan Works Affirmative Defense
to Copyright Infringement Actions, 12 Mich. Telecomm. Tech. L. Rev. 75
(2005): “There might be a simple solution to the orphan works problem that respects the rights of copyright owners while freeing up works for which the rightsholders cannot be found. If a would-be user of a copyrighted work completes a reasonable search in good faith and fails to find the rightsholder, the user should be able to use the work. If she is later sued, she should be able to defend in court by showing that she diligently did her best to find the copyright owner.”
