Another go at Orphan Works legislation
As I have indicated on many occasions, our work to determine public domain status of our digitized Benson volumes merges seamlessly into work to determine orphan work status. We pursue this inquiry even in the absence of legislative relief from the draconian penalties copyright law provides for infringement. I guess I feel strongly that one way or another, orphan works are going to find their way onto the Web for public access purposes, at least.
Two years ago, Representative Smith tried unsuccessfully to craft a bill that would deal with the issues. Now the effort is being undertaken anew. I blogged about it at Collectanea earlier today and would refer our readers there for links to other sites that are registering their optimism and concerns. A new bill has not yet been introduced, but it is reportedly going to be introduced as early as this week.
