Paris ART Network

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  • Joëlle GICQUEL
    Joëlle GICQUEL
    The company name is only visible to registered members.
    VERY IMPORTANT for artists: ABOUT COPYRIGHT / any image can be infringed
    Subject:
    Protect Copyright Law for Visual Artists

    You have to sign this petition :
    http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/issues/alert/?aler...


    Required text to House:
    (This text will be included in your message)
    As a constituent and a visual artist I am writing to express my grave misgivings
    about The Orphan Works bill before the House (H.R. 5889). I strongly oppose this
    bill.

    I would like to make it clear that I am not opposed to usage of orphan works by
    the cultural heritage sector for noncommercial purposes, or use by museums and
    libraries for preservation and education. But this legislation makes no
    limitations for these purposes, and will dangerously expose my art to
    infringements while stripping me of any practical means to protect my work. The
    bill has been written so broadly it will endanger the rights of anyone who
    creates intellectual property.

    The Orphan Works Act will affect all images from professional paintings to
    family snapshots. This includes any image, whether published or unpublished - or
    any that resides or ever resided on the internet. It will force me to register
    every image I make with privately-held commercial registries. All unregistered
    works will be exposed as potential orphans for commercial infringement.

    This radical change to U.S. copyright law will shift the burden of diligence
    from infringers to rights holders. All of us will have to regularly monitor the
    unauthorized use of our most personal work - an impossible task because
    infringements can occur anytime, anywhere in the world. It is wrong to give
    infringers the right to make money from my property without my knowledge or
    consent. How could I ever stop bad actors from using it in abusive, cheap or
    distasteful ways? I am alive, working and “locatable” to anyone I wish to find
    me. I am managing my copyrights in accord with U.S. and international law. I
    should not have to pay some for-profit company to keep the work I’ve created.

    Copyright laws are based on legal and business practices that have passed the
    test of time. They protect a vulnerable form of private property and the privacy
    rights embodied in them. They should not be undermined for the sake of special
    interest groups or for transitory reasons.

    I ask you to consider the harm this bill can do to visual artists and vote
    against it unless it is amended to precisely define an orphan work as a
    copyright no longer managed by a rightsholder.

    Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the proposed Orphan Works
    legislation.

    Required text to Senate:
    (This text will be included in your message)
    As a constituent and a visual artist I am writing to express my grave misgivings
    about The Orphan Works bill before the Senate (S.2913). I strongly oppose this
    bill.

    I would like to make it clear that I am not opposed to usage of orphan works by
    the cultural heritage sector for noncommercial purposes, or use by museums and
    libraries for preservation and education. But this legislation makes no
    limitations for these purposes, and will dangerously expose my art to
    infringements while stripping me of any practical means to protect my work. The
    bill has been written so broadly it will endanger the rights of anyone who
    creates intellectual property.

    The Orphan Works Act will affect all images from professional paintings to
    family snapshots. This includes any image, whether published or unpublished - or
    any that resides or ever resided on the internet. It will force me to register
    every image I make with privately-held commercial registries. All unregistered
    works will be exposed as potential orphans for commercial infringement.

    This radical change to U.S. copyright law will shift the burden of diligence
    from infringers to rights holders. All of us will have to regularly monitor the
    unauthorized use of our most personal work - an impossible task because
    infringements can occur anytime, anywhere in the world. It is wrong to give
    infringers the right to make money from my property without my knowledge or
    consent. How could I ever stop bad actors from using it in abusive, cheap or
    distasteful ways? I am alive, working and “locatable” to anyone I wish to find
    me. I am managing my copyrights in accord with U.S. and international law. I
    should not have to pay some for-profit company to keep the work I’ve created.

    Copyright laws are based on legal and business practices that have passed the
    test of time. They protect a vulnerable form of private property and the privacy
    rights embodied in them. They should not be undermined for the sake of special
    interest groups or for transitory reasons.

    I ask you to consider the harm this bill can do to visual artists and vote
    against it unless it is amended to precisely define an orphan work as a
    copyright no longer managed by a rightsholder.

    Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the proposed Orphan Works
    legislation.


    Your Closing:
    Your Name:

    Urgent / Pressant - New American Law Aims to Steal European Art

    "One of the aims of this legislation (Senate Bill 2913 and House Bill 5889) is
    to undermine international copyright law. This will open door for American
    companies to steal the rights to European art and photographs and sell them on
    the internet. Before you blink, they’ll be selling famous French art on
    t-shirts, mugs, key chains, and posters and the French won’t get a dime for it.
    If I was European artist or photographer, I'd be calling my head of state in
    about 3 seconds."

    --------Steve Lehman

    Founder and Person in Charge WillyNilly™
    Author / Co-Publisher of the award winning The Tibetans: A Struggle to Survive™
    (Cri de Coer Award, Best Book POY, one all time best selling books in
    photojournalism)
    Co-Author American Hollow
    Member of NPPA, PPA (former), Committed Photographer Group

    -------------------------------------------

    Dear Friends and Colleagues,

    I hope you are well. I am living in the United States. I have founded a digital
    lifestyle company, WillyNilly™ and have been working on several art projects as
    well.

    I write to you as a friend and colleague concerned about an impending change in
    American law that will dramatically affect international copyright law. I am
    working on a grassroots campaign to have this legislation overturned. Because of
    my background in Internet business, art, journalism, and activism, I have a
    strong understanding of intellectual property law. This legislation (Orphan
    Works Bill / Senate Bill # S2913 and House Bill # 5889) will undermine existing
    protections for artists and open the door for Americans to use and sell European
    art and photographs without permission or compensation. I have been following
    this issue closely and urge you to contact your head of state, embassy in
    Washington, EU, news organizations, influential people in the art world,
    artists, photographers and citizens. This bill has WIDE support in the U. S.
    Congress; if you do not fight EXTREMELY HARD it will pass and become a law. You
    have a very short time to exert a huge amount of pressure on the U.S.
    government. It is necessary to make this into an international incident.

    Some of the specific issues you should be concerned about are how this bill
    requires artists and photographers to register photographs in a private database
    (registry) mandated by U. S. law. This registry would encumber many small
    business owners with an enormous amount of needless work that would potentially
    put many them out of business. If a photographer or artist forgets to register a
    photograph or piece of art they would lose their copyright and their work could
    become part of the public domain. The registery is also a threat to privacy and
    free speech because it will allow governments, and individuals to track the
    movements of journalists who make images. It would also allow governments to
    monitor the work of artists. It would be particularly difficult for artists in
    countries that are not very developed; their work could easily fall into the
    public domain because they were not aware of these laws. I firmly believe that
    there should be no registery because information about my art and journalistic
    endeavors are private information that I want to control personally. I also
    don't want a government, company, institution or individual to have easy access
    to a list of all my work.

    Another very important issue is that this bill encourages copyright infringement
    because the cost of infringement is low. This bill limits legal remedies and
    compensation for individuals who have been infringed upon, it also will not
    cover legal fees in cases of infringement.

    These bills (Senate Bill # S2913 and House Bill # 5889) are part of a much
    larger intellectual property war going on in America. The large entertainment,
    computer, media, and internet companies are trying to weaken Intellectual
    property laws that protect creators of content. Ultimately, they want to be able
    to use everything for free and own it forever.
    It is very difficult to understand this legislation, I have attached some
    quotes, a 2-paragraph statement, and NY times Op-Ed piece to help you. If you
    need an American intellectual property lawyer please let me know.
    Vive le France!
    Never Surrender! Never Give Up! No Matter What!

    Sincerely,
    Steve

    PS. I'm done now, the ball is your hands. I have to focus on our campaign in
    America.

    -------------------------------------------

    " This legislation (S.2913 and HR 5889) is a threat to the free speech, privacy
    and intellectual property rights of all people. It needs to be stomped on and
    crushed. Who are you going believe me or the politicians ? "

    " For me this is issue (S2913 and HR5889) is so much about the willingness of
    our elected officials to cheat ordinary people. It is about putting the needs of
    a few over the needs of the entire world. I don't like being cheated so when a
    politician shows up at my door to try and cheat me. I'm going to fight back."

    -------------------------------------------

    The Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008 (S.2913) and (H.R 5889) is a very
    complicated piece of legislation that has enormous implications for all people.
    It is our belief this bill is an insidious attempt to undermine existing
    International and United States copyright laws that protects photojournalists,
    multimedia journalists, writers, visuals artists, illustrators, videographers
    and all people who take pictures, make videos, or create art. Upon serious
    examination of this bill and the groups lobbying for its passage, we have
    concluded that it is a threat to the intellectual property rights, privacy, and
    free speech of all humans.

    We believe it is the unalienable right of the individual visual artist or person
    to decide how their photographs, illustrations, videos or paintings are used for
    eternity. We feel the strong protection of this right helps prevent any one
    person, company, institution or government from gaining control over the world’s
    images. We are against any law that directly or indirectly serves to undermine
    this unalienable right.

    We are against the United States Government forcing artists and journalists to
    register their art and
    photographs in a giant database mandated by this legislation. We believe this is
    a threat to free speech and privacy. Such a database would allow any government,
    corporation, or individual to track the movements of journalists and monitor the
    work of artists.

    -------------------------------------------

    A MILLION PEOPLE AGAINST THE ORPHAN WORKS BILL

    Please join us on facebook and flickr:

    http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=18736567652
    http://www.flickr.com/groups/donttreadonme/

    Please read this NYT Op-ED for more information. Public opinion is already
    starting to shift (I disagree with his suggestion of there being a 14 year grace
    period before having to register. I feel there should be no registration of any
    type)

    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/opinion/20lessig.html?ex=1...

    -------------------------------------------

    S.2913
    Title: A bill to provide a limitation on judicial remedies in copyright
    infringement cases involving orphan works.

    http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:SN02913:@@@D&am...

    H.R.5889
    Title: To provide a limitation on judicial remedies in copyright infringement
    cases involving orphan works.

    http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HR05889:

    -------------------------------------------

    Posted by VIBERT / Actionreporter.com | Permalink
    • 03 Jun 2008, 11:11 pm