Orphan works

In a post on Feb. 13, I mentioned orphan works. I did not note that the Library of Congress' study group on orphan works issued its report in January. The group concluded (page 7 of the report):

• The orphan works problem is real.
• The orphan works problem is elusive to quantify and describe comprehensively.
• Some orphan works situations may be addressed by existing copyright law, but many are not.
• Legislation is necessary to provide a meaningful solution to the orphan works problem as we know it today.

The group then recommended that the "orphan works issue be addressed by an amendment to the Copyright Act’s remedies section." The group then recommended text for this later in the 207-page report.

Let's hope that the government does act on this issue AND that other governments follow suit.

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Technorati tag: Copyright