Heinrich Bauer, the German publishing group who now owns a large chunk of the consumer magazine publishing and radio empire formerly known as EMAP (£1.1Bn sale in November 2007), have a new contract which they are seeking to impose on freelance photographers. It is, even by the increasingly feudal standards of the industry, a landmark in predatory unreasonableness that fails to recognise freelances are small businesses, not serfs. Quite honestly, only an idiot would sign it.

There is a new petition against the proposed Orphan Works Act 2008, which is able to be signed by anyone anywhere in the world. The organisers are aiming for 1 million signatures. So far, 1,200 have signed including Lawrence Lessig, the free culture and Creative Commons advocate who earlier suprised many with his opposition to the Bills.

The EC, apparently keen not to be outdone by the US for stupidity on the issue of untraceable authors, has launched a website of Orphan Works images.

As the press release describes it:

MILE's potential solution to image copyright theft sparks controversy
Malta, 4th June 2008 - The MILE Project launches its Orphan Works
database at a major conference during the international CEPIC congress 2008 in Malta. MILE - Metadata Image Library Exploitation - is a project funded by the EC which works towards harmonizing cataloguing standards for all image collections within the European Union.

Carolyn Wright's Photo Atttorney blog reports Another IP Attorney Fights Orphan Works

Tammy L. Browning-Smith, an IP attorney specifically for those in the Creative Industries, has posted a copy of her letter to the House of Representatives regarding concerns about Orphan Works on her blog and has given permission for it to be posted here:

The letter itself is well worth a read, pointing out that 'THIS IS A SERIOUS BILL WITH SERIOUS ECONOMIC IMPACT' which retrospectively undermines the US 1976 Copyright Act and violates international treaties. A few choice extracts:-

There is a new opposition group to the US Orphan Works Act 2008 at http://www.owoh.org/

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has become the first UK organisation representing photographers to publicly oppose the proposed US ‘Orphan Works’ legislation, saying it “utterly rejec

Lawrence Lessig, the Stanford Law professor best known as a leading figure of the 'free culture' movement and an originator of Creative Commons licensing, has today published an article criticisiin

The Illustrators Partnership has prepared the following form letter for photographers and other visual artists outside the USA to send to US government departments:-

'What Part of "No" Don't You Understand? Explaining Copyright Law to Publishers' is a noble and patient attempt to explain licensing to would-be rights-grabbers, by Rohn Engh. If you've ever been lost for words to argue your case, it's well worth committing his piece to memory:

For freelance photographers used to licensing their photos, it's always a shock to come across an editorial stock photography buyer who thinks that payment for a photo covers both present and future use. Unless a work-for-hire agreement is arranged in writing between the photo buyer and the photographer, payment for the use of a photo is for one-time rights only.

...continues at the Blackstar Rising blog

The APA is the first US professional photography organisation to robustly oppose the 2008 Orphan Rights Act:

APA, in seeking to represent the best interests of its members, takes the position that the legislation offered in both bills -- S.2913 and H.R.5889 -- does not achieve the goal as we believe was originally intended, and instead provides a distinct road map for the infringement of contemporary works by living artists worldwide.