Part 2: Artists’ Letters to the Copyright Office
The Illustrators Partnership of America posted “Part 2” of its national call for “Artists’ Letters” to the Copyright Office. Please take the time to send in a letter and to share this national call-to-action with as many people as you can. Artists of all disciplines and any individual who wants to retain the rights to their intellectual property (think family photos you post on FB, the web etc.) need to take action and send in letters by July 23, 2015.
Embedded below is an extensive interview with Brad Holland, one of the founders of the Illustrators’ Partnership of America, by Will Terry. It is time well spent to better understand what is at stake, the scope of the issue, and who/what is behind this push to change the US copyright law (hint: it is big corporations, not individuals or small businesses).
Under current US copyright law, if one’s work was registered with the Copyright Office and was infringed/used without permission, compensation for your attorney fees were covered and statutory damages were awarded. This will no longer be the case with what the Copyright Office is proposing. Your time and attorney fees will come out of your pocket, a dramatic change from current copyright law. See MALC’s July 17th blog post that gives the basics on what is being proposed:
http://artistsunderthedome.org/malc/news/helpful-info-for-composing-your-responses-to-the-copyright-office
And as a reminder, and to underscore what is at stake, Mark Getty* was quoted as saying, in 2000:
“Intellectual Property is the oil of the 21st century. Look at the richest men a hundred years ago; they all made their money extracting natural resources or moving them around. All of today’s richest men have made their money out of intellectual property” ~”Blood and Oil,” The Economist (March 4, 2000), p. 68
* Mark Getty, the grandson of oilman J. Paul Getty and co-founder of Getty Investments LLC and Getty Images, one of the largest private owners of photographic images and moving images http://www.gettyimages.com/
Will Terry: Everything You Know About Copyright Is About To Change – Brad Holland
The following is an Illustrators’ Partnership of America, Artists’ Alert:
[note color=”#dfd8c7″]
Artists Alert from the Illustrators Partnership
The Return of Orphan Works
Part 2: Artists’ Letters
July 16, 2015
Two weeks ago, we warned that Congress is drafting a new US Copyright Act.
The new recommendations would resurrect the failed Orphan Works Act of 2008. But there are new proposals that go far beyond Orphan Works.
The Copyright Office says that these artists’ issues are also “ripe” for legislation: copyright small claims, resale royalties, and other forms of secondary licensing which most artists have never heard of.
Many of you have already written. We hope many more will do the same.
The deadline is NEXT THURSDAY: July 23, 2015
American artists can submit their letters online here.
If you are a non-U.S. artist, be sure to click the “state” dropdown field in the online form, scroll to the bottom and select “Non-U.S.A. Location “. If you continue to have trouble, email:
Catherine Rowland
crowland@loc.gov
Read the Copyright Office Notice of Inquiry.
Read the 2015 Orphan Works and Mass Digitization Report.
Please write the Copyright Office
Because of our past opposition to orphan works legislation, the Copyright Office has issued a special Notice of Inquiry on Visual Works. In it, they acknowledge that visual artists face special problems in the marketplace and they’ve asked artists to respond to five questions:
1. What are the most significant challenges related to monetizing and/or licensing photographs, graphic artworks, and/or illustrations?
2. What are the most significant enforcement challenges for photographers, graphic artists, and/or illustrators?
3. What are the most significant registration challenges for photographers, graphic artists, and/or illustrators?
4. What are the most significant challenges or frustrations for those who wish to make legal use of photographs, graphic art works, and/or illustrations?
5. What other issues or challenges should the Office be aware of regarding photographs, graphic artworks, and/or illustrations under the Copyright Act?
And we might suggest a 6th question of our own:
6. What are the most significant challenges artists would face if these new copyright proposals become law?
Since most artists have never written to lawmakers before, many of you have asked us for sample letters.
It is important that the Copyright Office receive unique letters.
Eight artists have provided their letters to inspire you to write. The letters are poignant examples written respectfully by artists telling their own unique story about their experience and concerns:
Letter 1: “I’m writing to stress that for me, and for artists like me, copyright law is not an abstract legal issue. Our copyrights are our assets. Licensing them is how we make our livings.” Read more
Letter 2: “As a freelance illustrator, I need to maintain revenue streams in order to make a living for my family. The resale of my past images is part of my day to day way of doing business.” Read more.
Letter 3: “My art is reasonably well known since it has served the advertising, editorial, public relations and historical documentation needs of the aerospace industry, publications, the military services and air and space museums for 68 years.” Read more.
Letter 4: “I am writing to you as an award winning professional illustrator of over 40 years whose work has appeared in many major publications, books and advertisements, both nationally and internationally.” Read more.
Letter 5: “I have been a professional medical illustrator since 1975, and self-employed since 1981. During the course of my career, I have created thousands of illustrations…” Read more.
Letter 6: “Copyright is the basis of my income and ability to support my business. It is the only way I have to protect the accuracy and integrity of my work, and to negotiate an appropriate fee for re-licensing.” Read more.
Letter 7: “My specialty area is fetal development and women’s health illustration…The protection of these images is of utmost importance to my livelihood, and I have struggled to fight the rampant piracy of them, especially by political groups.” Read more.
Letter 8: ” I am writing to ask that you create policy to protect visual authors and their exclusive rights, and support a sustainable environment for professional authorship. Read more.
Remember no one is asking you to write a legal brief. Copyright law is a business law, and the lawyers writing these laws know little or nothing about our business.
Let’s explain to them how the laws they’re writing will affect us.
– Brad Holland and Cynthia Turner for the Board of the Illustrators’ Partnership[/note]