You know, I’d take the railing against the orphan works bills* a lot more seriously if I truly believed that photographers were not only concerned about protecting their rights, but that they were actively doing all they can to protect those rights today.
The reality is, they are not. Not even close.
Most of you are not even bothering to register your works. According to a transcript from a 2003 congressional hearing, the PPA reported that more than 97% of professional photographers have never registered anything with the copyright office.
It’s pitiful. And until you do, until you start registering everything you create, you can’t be taken seriously as wanting to protect your rights.
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* This does not mean I am for the bills as written…or against them. As I have said before, I am staying publicly neutral on this issue. I just think that it’s hypocritical to get all upset about losing your rights when you don’t even protect and exercise those you already have.
Look at it this way: Orphan works chiefly affects people who don’t bother to register work. Your statistic suggests that 97% are about to lose what little protection copyright law affords them. By the same token, the 3% of us who already register work will have another hassle in the form of some other registry to submit to as well — but it’s an inconvenience, not a game-changer.
Well put Eric – the erosion continues.
My favorite quote from the Talmud : “If you have a mouse, it’s the hole’s fault”. Photographers have created their own holes mainly thru the idea that they quickly had to put their stuff out there and worry about the back end of it later. Well the back-end has reared it’s ugly freight train head and the opportunity to do something about it is fleeting. Fair use tested the waters and very little people could prove harm enough for Congress to do something different so here comes the SBOW act. The big infringers will get caught all the others will turn into misdemeanors. No autopsy no foul. Wait for bandwidth to go up and then the super jpg can be displayed and protected. People out grew 110 they will outgrow jpgs @72 dpi.