Orphan Works Legislation: Real Time Bomb

Orphan Works A-Z

The 'elements' of the Orphan Works Act is that the new law would permit: (a) anyone (b) who cannot find (c) a copyright owner after (d) a self-policed (e) 'reasonably' (f) 'diligent search' (g) in accordance with 'best practices' (h) to exploit that work (i) in any manner (j) for anything (k) all without compensation (l) to the copyright owner (m) other than 'reasonable compensation' (n) as determined by a judge under a 'willing buyer, willing seller' standard (o) in a U.S. federal court (p) where the judge need only refer (q) to non-mandatory licensing guidelines (r) and comparable licensing fees for comparable works or the same work (s) which may not include statutory damages (t) or attorneys fees or (u) injunctive relief in most cases (v) all without public notice to the copyright owner (w) or any independent judgment or permission granted (as in Canada) by an independent government body representing the copyright owner who cannot be found or their heirs. The Act applies (x) to all copyrights (foreign and domestic) (y) and de facto requires registration in yet-to-be created databases (z) that many international lawyers believe will violate the Berne Convention in a significant enough way to cause the European Commission to bring the United States before the World Trade Organization arbitration panel with this law as they did with the Fairness in Music Licensing Act (for which the U.S. is still paying reparations we are told).