WASHINGTON, DC (September 23, 2008) – While it seems unlikely that members of Congress would be concerned with anything other than solving the budget crisis that faces America this afternoon, some members of the Imagery Alliance say they have received information that the House and Senate are "hot lining" the Orphan Works Bill and that it may pass by the end of the day.
The Advertising Photographers of American sent an urgent message to members urging them to telephone their elected representatives immediately and ask them to either vote no or put a hold on the bill.
A representative of the American Society of Media Photographers sent out a message to ASMP members asking them to contact their representatives immediately, and that Congress is being "hammered" with communications from the "library community" urging them to adopt the Senate bill.
ASMP told their members today that they have received a draft of proposed revisions to the Senate version of the bill, S. 2913, the "Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008," and ASMP believes that the Senate may try to act on it shortly (possibly attached as an amendment to other legislation). ASMP says the draft they've seen shows improvements but still lacks some of they safeguards considered necessary to protect photographers' works.
You can find your Representative here and your Senator here.
A sample letter that you can use to "cut and paste" into an online letter to send to your Senator to opposed the "Shawn Bentley" act can be found here.
But to the hour it's recommended that you call to voice your opinion rather than use eMail.
The National Press Photographers Association is a member of the Imagery Alliance. A full list of organizations who belong to the group is online here.
A detailed article about Orphan Works and the legislation by NPPA Advocacy Committee chair and NPPA past president (and law student) Alicia Wagner Calzada, which was published in the August 2008 issue of News Photographer magazine, is online here.
