Re: H.R. 5889, Orphan Works
Dear Representative ___________:
I am one of your constituents and I am a professional photographer. It is crucial to my professional livelihood that you oppose both the attachment of this bill to other legislation and the passage of this bill in its current form. I greatly appreciate the improvements in the bill’s language that have very recently been proposed, but it needs further improvements before it is fair to photographers.
I urge you to oppose this bill, whether as stand-alone legislation or as part of another bill, unless and until it is amended to contain at least the minimum provisions that are critical to protect photographers. These include but are not limited to a notice of use that must be filed before the use is made, upon penalty of losing eligibility to claim orphan work status for failure to file the notice and an archive of the notices, to be maintained by the Copyright Office or an approved third party.
Please let me know if you have any questions or if I can provide you with any additional information. Thank you for your time. I hope that you will take the necessary actions to protect my interests and prevent the passage of this bill until it is amended to be fair and reasonable to all parties.
Respectfully yours,
(your name)
