March 6, 2006. The Stock Artists Alliance today launched a blog to provide up-to-date news and commentary to the stock community on proposed "Orphan Works" changes to US Copyright Law. http://orphanworks.blogspot.com/
This legislation, as proposed by the U.S. Copyright Office, would pose a serious threat to stock photographers by removing protections from unauthorized use of our images. The bill, now in draft stage, is being "fast tracked" through Congress and has a good chance of passage before the end of the current session.
SAA is fully engaged on the "Orphan Works" issue and we are working to advocate changes to this bill to preserve our copyright protection. We have joined with fellow trade organizations to form an active Coalition of that has quickly come together to fight this threat to the livelihood of independent artists as well as those engaged in the distribution of our images.
What SAA brings to the Coalition, and to both legislators and supporters of the bill, is an understanding of the Stock Photography business. We hope that by articulating our concerns, we can help to persuade Congress of the need to preserve the copyright protection for photographers in their drafting of "Orphan Rights" legislation in the coming weeks.
There will be frequent updates and commentary posted to http://orphanworks.blogspot.com/
Contacts:David Sanger, SAA President (510) 526-0800
Betsy Reid, SAA Executive Director (305) 476-0445
Leif Skoogfors, SAA Board and Legal Chair
