Orphan Works – Political Action Made Easy

A storm is brewing again in Washington DC, and this battle is important for all visual artists to pay attention. Orphan Works (OW) is legislation that will allow someone to use an image without penalty provided they “tried to locate the author / creator”. The idea stemmed from museums and historical collections wanting to include images, but were unable to track down who owned the photo. That is all well and good, but current legislation sets no limits on commercial or editorial users.

There is a very vocal call for all visual artists to contact their Representatives in Washington, and voice your opposition from this ‘unrestricted’ OW bill, and urge a re-write to include some provisions to exclude certain types of uses and users.

Now you can contact your reps with a click of a mouse. It’s Political Action made easy, and it even comes with template letters you can add your name to or modify to use your own words. You then fill in your address, and this site will automatically email your letter to your House Representatives (even if you don’t know who they are).

For more information, check out this PDF.