Diane Clancy’s Art Blog

There is a breather about the Orphan Works Bill but we may not be out of the woods yet - read the details below! We need to stay alert because “hotlining” has been used to pass bills without public input on short notice.

I have a give-away to celebrate my 500th post. You can still enter to win!! Here are the details. It is FREE to enter! Thank you for stopping by!  There are some of my regular readers who are away and I want to give them a chance to enter.

Lush Flora, Digital © Diane Clancy

FROM THE ILLUSTRATORS’ PARTNERSHIP
Senate Orphan Works Bill Put “on Hold”

We’ve just received word that the Senate bill has been put “on hold.” In fact, there appear to be multiple holds on it. Senators who “hold” hotlined bills do not have to identify themselves nor give their reasons for holding it. Holds are temporary. We don’t know how many of you contacted your Senators on such short notice this afternoon, but many, many thanks to all of you who responded so rapidly.

Most people are unaware of the process called hotlining. In the past it was used to pass non-controversial legislation, but increasingly, it’s being used to pass bills whose sponsors don’t want to see debate. An excellent article in Roll Call explains the process. Here’s an excerpt:

Senate conservatives are upset that the leaders of both parties in the chamber have in recent years increasingly used a practice known as “hotlining” bills - previously used to quickly move noncontroversial bills or simple procedural motions - to pass complex and often costly legislation, in some cases with little or no public debate. The increase was particularly noticeable just before the August recess, when leaders hotlined more than 150 bills, totaling millions of dollars in new spending, in a period of less than a week.

The practice has led to complaints from Members and watchdog groups alike that lawmakers are essentially signing off on legislation neither they nor their staff have ever read…

In order for a bill to be hotlined, the Senate Majority Leader and Minority Leader must agree to pass it by unanimous consent, without a roll-call vote. The two leaders then inform Members of this agreement using special hotlines installed in each office and give Members a specified amount of time to object - in some cases as little as 15 minutes. If no objection is registered, the bill is passed.

- From ‘Hotlined’ Bills Spark Concern
By John Stanton, Roll Call Staff
September 17, 2007
To read the full article, go to: http://tinyurl.com/3p8×2u (link isn’t working correctly in their announcement)

This is the second time the Senate Orphan Works bill has been hotlined this summer. The previous hotline came on June 5, the same week artists descended on Washington to urge lawmakers to oppose this controversial bill. The bill was put on hold that time too.

Since bills can be hotlined without prior notice, we’ll all have to stay vigilant throughout the rest of this legislative session. Thanks again to all of you who responded so quickly.

Over 60 organizations, representing more than 250,000 creators, are united in opposing these bills in their current form. Illustrators, photographers, fine artists, songwriters, musicians, and countless licensing firms all believe this bill will harm their small businesses.

Read the list:

http://www.illustratorspartnership.org/01_topics

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: Orphan Works Bill, give-away, FREE

At Etsy there are many shops that are having a Christmas in July sale … I belong to a cool team called the Visual Arts Street Team (VAST) and many of us are also have sales.  Here is a post on our blog detailing some of the sales …  Susan Elkin has activated her shop again … and she did post on her blog the other day. My Etsy also has a sale … check here …. If you email me, you can get a special sale for blog readers only - buy 2 ACEOs and get a third FREE!!!!  

Yellow Pool, Digital © Diane Clancy

If you would rather buy through the blog for this buy 2 get one free sale, email me (or leave a comment) and we will work it out!! Thanks for stopping by!!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: VAST, Susan Elkin, Etsy, FREE

I received a very interesting email the other day. There is a group in Seattle that provides medical care for children - and they want to use my image for the invitation!! It was very exciting to be asked!! Her board all LOVE this digital painting!! How exciting to me that someone 3,000 miles away loves my work and wants to use it!!  She was searching (I guess in Goggle images) and this came up.  I will have more to show you later - a pdf - and a website to link to.  I am delighted!!

Whirling Dervish Umbrellas, Digital © Diane Clancy

I am back after being away for a few days and actually catching up on about 10 little joby things … some paid and some not (this job for the children’s expenses).

~ Diane Clancy

From the Illustrators’Partnership:

The Orphan Works Mark-up for this week has been postponed. This gives us more time to email and fax members of the House Judiciary Committee. Write and ask them to support the amendments submitted jointly by the Illustrators’ Partnership, the Artists Rights Society and the Advertising Photographers of America.

http://ipaorphanworks.blogspot.com/2008/07/hr-5889-amendments.html

Pink Promenade, Digital © Diane Clancy

These amendments would:

Insure that the bill will only affect true orphaned work;
Insure that the bill will not violate international trade agreements;
Insure that the bill will not take effect until a market impact survey concludes it will not harm existing commercial markets.

Otherwise, ask them not to vote this bill out of committee until Congress can hold proper hearings into the harm it will do to small businesses, individual creators and ordinary citizens.

Our sample letter to House Judiciary Committee members can be deep linked here: http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/issues/alert/?alertid=11618481

Contact information for House Judiciary Committee members can be accessed here: http://ipaorphanworks.blogspot.com/2008/07/house-judiciary-committee-contact-list.html

For Orphan Works Updates use our new Orphan Works blog: http://ipaorphanworks.blogspot.com/

View the Orphan Works Forum Webcast from the Society of Illustrators:
http://www.unitedpgremote.com/society/soi_2008_05_04.html

Don’t Let Congress Orphan Your Work
Write Congress and fight for your copyrights

If you received our mail as a forwarded message, and wish to be added to our mailing list, email us at: illustratorspartnership@cnymail.com Place “Add Name” in the subject line, and provide your name and the email address you want used in the message area.

Can you believe it?  You can see me again … Twice in a week and a half - can you stand it? Saturday we went up to Rowe MA to do a fair.  One of our friends was coordinating it and loves our work so she invited us to come up to the annual Old Home Days.  We had lots of looking but only a few buys - even though we dragged half our house up there! The economy is taking its toll big time on the buyers at these kind of fairs.

Rowe Fair, Photography © Susan Elkin

It was great that we went though - for a couple of reasons. One - it has been a long time since I just sat somewhere and didn’t do a lot all day (I know - you keep telling me to rest!) It felt like we had been at the beach all day.  Also, Susan now gets why I want to focus a lot on online marketing and she has gotten on board.  This will make marketing life much better!!

More pictures may be coming later.  I would LOVE to hear how you are!! Thanks for stopping by!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: AWE Project

It is very disturbing to read the below info - it certainly suggests that those who are pushing this bill clearly understand that according to international law (that the US has agreed to), that what they are doing is illegal and wrong. This shows more of a devious attitude than I has expected - I thought they went overboard without understanding what they were doing. Please read and act!!

In the Zone, Digital © Diane Clancy

FROM THE ILLUSTRATORS’ PARTNERSHIP

Backers of the Orphan Works bill are circulating their Talking Points:

“Neither the House nor the Senate drafts of the bill contain the word “registries,” [they write] but rather they require users to search non-governmental databases of copyrighted works. The purpose of any database is not meant to take the place of copyright registration, but to have a way to search for visual images. Any participation in such a database would be voluntary.”

But this doesn’t mean what it appears to say. Take it point by point:

Talking Point #1: “Neither the House nor the Senate drafts of the bill contain the word `registries.’ ”
Response: Correct. They contain the word “databases,” a synonym:

Registry: register: an official written record of names or events or
transactions
http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Database: A database is a structured collection of records or data
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database

Q: Why a synonym?
A: Because international copyright law forbids member countries to impose registries as a condition of protecting copyrights: Berne/Article 5(2) “The enjoyment and the exercise of these rights shall not be subject to any formality.”
http://www.law.cornell.edu/treaties/berne/5.html

In other words, if they used the word “registries” in the bills, it would be a red flag to other countries that the US is flirting with non-compliance with international treaties.

Talking Point #2: “…rather they [the bills] require users to search non-governmental databases of copyrighted works.”
Response: Non-governmental databases” means databases maintained in the private sector.
For users to find your work in these commercial databases, your work would first have to be in the database. Work not in the database would be orphaned.

Talking Point #3: “Any participation in such a database would be voluntary.”
Response: Congress cannot pass a bill making registration mandatory because that would violate Berne/Article 5(2).
And that would state explicitly to other countries that the US no longer intends to honor its international agreements.
There are red flags all over these talking points.

Summing up: The Orphan Work bills would mandate the creation of
registries by commercial interests. You would not be legally forced to place your work with these for-profit registries. But failure to do so would orphan your work.

The deceptive talking points accompanying this bill are another red flag.

Ëœ Brad Holland and Cynthia Turner, for the Board of the Illustrators’ Partnership

Take Action/ Write Congress
http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/

Over 37,000 messages have been sent from the site in the last 48 hours. Please spread the word.

Please forward or post this announcement in its entirety to any interested party.

If you received our mail as a forwarded message, and wish to be added to our mailing list, email us at: illustratorspartnership@cnymail.com
Place “Add Name” in the subject line, and provide your name and the email address you want used in the message area.

~ Diane Clancy

Everyone can sign - please do!! And for those in Nashville .. who knows - there many be dozens of readers there - <g> …  there is a big meeting there today about this bill!! Today a couple of people are coming over to have a cookout for my birthday … HAPPY SOLSTICE!!  I got paid for the work I did in January!! And another of my former shops closed.

Pink Portico, Digital © Diane Clancy

FROM THE ILLUSTRATORS’ PARTNERSHIP

A Million People Against the Orphan Works Bill

http://www.petitiononline.com/Stop2913/petition.html

We support this petition. We urge you to sign it. Please forward the link and urge others to sign.

You can help increase the power of the petition by signing your real name and listing your artistic specialties.

If you are not a US citizen, we suggest that you note your country, and state if it is a member of the Berne Convention.

This petition is sponsored by A Million People Against the Orphan Works Bill, a new grassroots group founded by multimedia journalist Steve Lehman on Facebook and Flickr. All people are welcome to participate; it is not exclusive to these websites.

In 1987, Lehman broke the story of Tibetan unrest, later profiled in his award winning book “The Tibetans Struggle to Survive.” As a visual artist intimately acquainted with the power of free speech, the protection afforded by the right to privacy, and the critical need for independent voices, Lehman, like the rest of us, is deeply troubled by any national policy that affects artists’ control over their works. 

Please forward this message to every artist you know. 

For additional information about Orphan Works developments, go to the IPA Orphan Works Resource Page for Artists at:  http://www.illustratorspartnership.org/01_topics/article.php?searchterm=00185

Nashville Town Hall Meeting to Discuss controversial ‘Orphan Works’ legislation.”

Saturday June 21 2:00 PM 

At Sunset Grill

2001 Belcourt Ave

Nashville, TN 37212

(615) 386-3663

Admission Free/Open to Public

Congressman Jim Cooper and Congressman John Hall will hold a “Town Hall Meeting” with Nashville’s entertainment community this Saturday to discuss music-industry issues such as the controversial “Orphan Works” bill. The event is free and open to the public.

We hope all artists, cartoonists, photographers, art educators and others in the Nashville area will attend to express their opposition to this radical change to copyright law. It’s important to let lawmakers know that this bill will affect all forms of art, damage small businesses and open the door to cultural theft on an unprecedented scale. Please contact others in the Nashville area. Urge them to attend and urge them all to speak out.

Congressman Cooper represents the district that contains most of Nashville’s music business. He is a 2006 graduate of the Leadership Music program. 

Congressman Hall is the only professional musician in Congress. Formerly a Nashville resident, he is a first-term congressman representing District 19 in upstate New York. Hall founded Orleans and Co-wrote its classics “Still the One” and “Dance with Me.” His songwriting hits in Music City included “Juliet” (The Oak Ridge Boys), “You Can Dream of Me” (Steve Wariner), “Reach” (New Grass Revival), and “New Star Shining” (Ricky Skaggs). His songs have also been recorded by Bonnie Raitt, Chet Atkins, Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor and Janis Joplin, among others.

 ~ Diane Clancy

Independent musicians are now supporting the Visual Artists with the Orphan Works Act given the way it is written right now.  The original intent has pretty much gotten lost .. and big business interests have taken over (my interpretation). There is a lot more information in the posts for the last 2 days. Here is one of my original ACEOs I made … I need to get back to making some more in traditional mediums beside digital.

Lace and Flowers - ACEO © Diane Clancy

~ Diane Clancy

FROM THE ILLUSTRATORS’ PARTNERSHIP

Visual Artists Go to Washington, Independent Record Labels Oppose
Orphan Works Act

Last week over two dozen visual artists, representing illustrators,
photographers, fine artists and the arts licensing trades went to
Capital Hill to explain to legislators how the Orphan Works Act
will harm creators and the hundreds of thousands of art-related
small businesses that serve and are dependent on them. At the same
time, independent music labels have joined the opposition to orphan
works legislation as it currently exists.

The Illustrators’ Partnership has stressed that Orphan Works
legislation should be limited to true orphaned work and not act as
an unwarranted compulsory license imposed on commercial markets.
IPA, the Advertising Photographers of America and the Artists
Rights Society have joined to offer amendments to that effect.

Excerpted from the Washington Internet Daily/Monday June 09, 2008:

The visual-arts community hit the Hill last week to protest what it
portrays as a hijacking of the orphan-works issue as it was
presented in a 2005 Copyright Office report…

The Copyright Office ran a bait-and-switch from its 2005 notice of
intent, which focused on facilitating libraries’, museums’ and
other nonprofits’ efforts to digitize collections to improve access
to them, [Illustrators' Partnership co-founder Brad] Holland said.
Artists want the issue narrowed back to that focus, scrapping
commercial use, he said…Copyright Office roundtables on orphan
works never addressed alternates to registries, an “untested,
untried, unaccountable market system” favoring Google, Getty,
Corbis and other commercial aggregators, Holland said. [Cynthia]
Turner [also of the Partnership] said artists would incur high
costs registering works, and they hesitate to hand over high-res,
commercial versions to Google or others.

In the same article, Washington Internet Daily also reports that
the leading group of independent music labels has broken with the
corporate music trade associations. The American Association of
Independent Music has published a position paper opposing the
current orphan works bills. The article quotes a music industry
executive: “I can tell you that nobody in the music business”
sought the bill.

… the executive said the bill is “de facto… establishing a new
compulsory license” by putting unregistered artists at a legal
disadvantage in court. The law can’t explicitly require
registration or it will violate the Berne Convention, TRIPS and
other treaties the U.S. has signed, the executive said. Book
publishers and music executives in the U.K. think the U.S. will be
in trouble, the executive said, citing a recent visit: “I can tell
you there are European commissioners that are looking at this right
now.”

-Excerpts from “Orphan-Works Bills Scorned by Visual Arts, Indie
Labels” by Greg Piper, Washington Internet Daily June 09, 2008

Also see
http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/27803/visual-artists-and-indie-rec
ord-labels-voice-concern-over-orphan-works-bills/

Technorati Tags: Orphan Works Act

 Mark Simon wrote this article about the Orphan Works Act and said it could be posted in its entirety other places.  It is published somewhere on www.AWN.com. There is more information in yesterday’s post and there will be still more tomorrow … and these three pieces are what I have new for now.

Purple Entrance, Digital © Diane Clancy

~ Diane Clancy

 
Does Congress Care About Your Creations?
Mark Simon
Artist Advocate

Mark Simon keeps trying to chip away at the Orphan Works Act.

When I found out about the Orphan Works Act I was astounded that
anyone in Congress would consider legislation that could so
obviously be used against artists and their original creations.

I started helping the Illustrator’s Partnership in getting artists
to write letters to Congress asking Senators and Representatives to
oppose the bill. (You have written a few yourself right? Every
voice counts!) So far artists have sent over 99,000 letters
opposing the bill through the system the Illustrator’s Partnership
set up (http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/ ). That
doesn’t even count all the letters sent and calls made to
Representatives and Senator’s directly.

Your voices are being heard!

At least they are being heard by some people on the Hill. However,
I’m not quite sure what some of our Congressmen are listening to.
When artist Marty Kleva called the office of his Representative Tom
Udall, NM, Kleva was told “This is a very popular bill.”

Really? Popular? Have you seen the outrage in the online artist
communities? Has Udall read any of the tens of thousands of letters
sent to Congress opposing this bill?

Congressman Steve Kagen stated in his response to Kathy Glasnap,
“This bill has come under considerable scrutiny and criticism from
people in the arts community”. This statement completely
contradicts that of Udall. At least Kagen is listening.

As you may imagine I have gotten a huge amount of e-mails regarding
this issue. By far, most artists understand the problems inherent
in this legislation and they oppose the bill. Your letters are
working and legislators are starting to listen.

At the end of May I asked a number of artists on my Orphan Works
E-Mail List to forward the responses they have received from their
Representatives and Senators regarding Orphan Works. I got copied
on over 60 responses from Congress which show a combination of
support for the Bill, opposition to the Bill and a complete lack of
understanding of the issue.

Let’s talk about specifics in these responses from our government
officials who are supposed to be supporting our best interests.

Some members of Congress do support our position that the Orphan
Works Act is bad for the creative community. I have seen letters of
support from the following Congressmen. Let’s give them their fair
due and please let them know that you appreciate their continued
support in opposing the bill.

* Ron Paul (extremely strong opposition to the Orphan Works Act)
* Sam Farr
* John Olver
* Diane Feinstein
* Tom Feeney
* Diane DeGette
* Barbara Mikulski

Florida Representative Tom Feeney, and co-chairman of the
Intellectual Property Caucus, says about the bill, “I do have
several concerns. This bill provides for a potential haven for
those who are seeking to use copyrighted works but are unwilling to
undertake a thorough search for the copyright owners.” This is also
one of my main concerns and I’m glad Feeney agrees.

Many of the responses from our Senators and Representatives had a
common phrase regarding a limitation in civil action remedies if an
infringer “documented a reasonably diligent search in good faith.”

This phrase, or a portion of it, was included in responses from Tom
Feeney, Jack Reed, Vernon Ehlers, Sherrod Brown, David Wu, Lynn
Westmoreland, John Hall, Henry Waxman, Saxby Chambliss, Susan
Collins, Mel Martinez, Olympia Snowe and Ric Keller.

It’s rather easy to understand how someone could read that phrase
and think that a reasonably diligent search for a copyright holder
could be a good thing for artists. One problem, the proposed law
DOES NOT ENCOURAGE a reasonably diligent search.

In fact the legislation does the opposite. It makes it easy for
someone to do a quick search on a registry and then call a work of
art an orphan if is doesn’t show in the registry results. No other
searching would need to be done to orphan a work. That’s not a
diligent search. IT’S LAZY!

I’ve searched for artists to get the rights to use their work in my
books. I know what it can take to find someone and get their
permission. Sometimes you can’t find them. You know what I do? I
don’t use the work without their permission! My inability to find
someone doesn’t give me the right to infringe on their work.

Having a searchable registry to help track down artists is a good
idea.

Using any registry as a basis to orphan our creative works IS A
TERRIBLE IDEA!

The Orphan Works Act is NOT about grandma’s wedding photos.

Some supporters of the Orphan Works Act, such as Senator Ben
Cardin, use the argument that this legislation will help grandma
restore her wedding photos if she can’t find the original
photographer. Grandma’s photos are not what this bill is about.

As artists we are mostly concerned with unauthorized commercial use
of our works. Non-profit use of orphaned works is already protected
in our current copyright laws.

Senator Bob Corker states in his letter to artist Tony Beazley “I
believe that it is important for people to have access to resources
and materials without the unnecessary threat of a lawsuit.” I
disagree. The threat of a lawsuit is necessary to protect our work
from unauthorized use.

In fact, according to Florida Senator Mel Martinez, “The bill
specifies that monetary relief may not be made for damages, costs
and attorney’s fees.” In no way is this good for artists.

Senator Saxby Chambliss in his letter to artist Brian Laframboise
says “Under this legislation, owners of works would be able to
receive compensation for the use of their infringed work.” This is
a misleading statement. The legislation actually severely limits
our potential compensation from infringers, to the point where it
may not be practical to go after infringers at all.

When a law limits the penalty for theft of our work to less than
the expense of penalizing the thief, there is very little incentive
not to steal our work.

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison contradicts herself in her written
response to Mrs. Matthews. In the same sentence she says “I believe
copyright protection is a foundation of innovation”, in which seems
to oppose the legislation, but then she continues to say “copyright
law should work to ultimately protect the best interests of
consumers.” Copyright law is not about protecting consumers, it’s
about protecting the rights of creators!

Don’t let Congress orphan your work! Write letters and call NOW!

Take two minutes and write Congress. Go to
http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/.

GET ON AN ORPHAN WORKS E-MAIL LIST:
To be notified of the latest information on the Orphan Works bill
and how to easily contact your legislators, send an e-mail to
illustratorspartnership@cnymail.com and ask to be added to the
Orphan Works list.

Technorati Tags: Orphan Works Act

I thought we all needed a little Shimmering Joy in dealing with life’s realities - such as the Orphan Works Act.  Clearly this bill started out with good intentions of allowing, for instance, museums to photograph their collections … it has turned into a monster  that wants artists’ right to be fairly caput!!  The breadth of creative types against this is amazing!! Please once again take 2 minutes to take action.

Shimmering Joy, Digital © Diane Clancy

 
FROM THE ILLUSTRATORS’ PARTNERSHIP

Over 100,000 letters have gone out to Senators and Congressmen from our CapWiz site.
Opposition to the Orphan Works Act continues to grow. 
Here are some of organizations who oppose it:

http://illustratorspartnership.org/01_topics/article.php?searchterm=00273

And here are some of the excellent position papers written by some of these groups:

NUJ condemns “free for all” US Orphan Works legislation
http://www.epuk.org/News/863/nuj-opposes-us-orphan-works 

The American Association of Independent Music
A2IM Position on the Proposed Orphan Works Legislation in the United States
http://www.a2im.org/newsDetail.aspx?newsID=117

Association of Medical Illustrators Denounces ‘Orphan Works’ Bills Before Congress
http://www.examiner.com/p-175592~Association_of_Medical_Illustrators_Denounces__Orphan_Works__Bills_Before_Congress.html

Two Cartoon-Group Presidents Slam Possible ‘Orphan Works’ Legislation
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003802183

The Canadian Association of Photographers and Illustrators in Communications
Orphan Works Update: The Orphan Works Debate in the US
http://www.capic.org/copyright.html

Advertising Photographers of America 
APA Position Paper on Orphan Works
http://www.apanational.com/files/public/APA__On_Orphan_Works.pdf 

Don’t Let Congress Orphan Your Work
2 minutes is all it takes to write Congress and fight for your copyright: 
http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/

Please forward this message in its entirety to every artist you know.

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: Orphan Works Act

I am making progress … I hope tomorrow I will be able to start moving on licensing again. Licensing is when someone or some company wants to use your images on their things - whether a yoga CD for someone’s class or Hallmark on their cards or place mats for your table and everything in between. Since many of my paintings are popular, I would very much like to license my work so lots of people can enjoy them. 

Cyan Portal, Digital © Diane Clancy

With licensing the artist gets some amount of money each time her image is used. Once that is set up, it becomes passive income - like royalties from a book.  I am sure you can see why I like this idea. I can feel the internal changes happening that mean I can getting ready to tackle licensing.  I am realizing that I am worried I will get rejected .. well, we know for sure there will likely be more than a few of those unless I hit the heart of the target right off!

With all this commotion about the Orphan Works Act, I also have been discouraged to move along on the licensing … people were saying that places wouldn’t have to do licensing any more.  But at this point I am convinced that reputatable places will stay be paying. So now it is just about time to get started … and to bill once again the place that I did work for in January that still has not paid me.  Thanks for coming by!!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: licensing

Do you  see the Leaf Earth Goddess I do? The right part of this image looks like a goddess to me … do you see her? I love the purple here .. how about you?  Today at Etsy.com there was quite a discussion about how to categorize art to make it easy to shop. Whew!! Quite a discussion!!  My shop is http://dianeclancy.etsy.com. If you ever see an image that you want as an ACEO or any other size, just let me know and I am glad to create it for you!!

Leaf Earth Goddess, Digital © Diane Clancy

~ Diane Clancy

Today I prepared and printed many ACEOs … it was a lot of work and a lot of fun!!  I played with this image and made several other variations of these unusual birds. Please all US residents take the action suggested below to try to stop this irresponsible version of this well-meaning but mis-guided bill. Clearly my local US Representative, John Olver, does not understand the importance of this bill. He supports it for the museums. He doesn’t realize how much this will hurt all the artists in his district.  So please, please write!

Spring Birds, Digital © Diane Clancy

 

Totally quoted from an email sent to me:

A quick update about this bill. It is poised for a final vote (date not yet announced) so please try to get your final “shots” in.

What illustrators and designers and photographers etc. are doing now is a postcard mailing blitz… (many of them are using their postcard mailers or printing off something quickly)

On the back they write: “Please vote NO on the Orphan Works bill– H.R. 5889 for the House; S-2913 for the Senate” and sign it with their name and contact information.

No explanation necessary just “VOTE NO TO THE ORPHAN WORKS ACT.”

**But here is the important part: **

**Any correspondence needs to be addressed to the DISTRICT OFFICE. **

Apparently, mail received at district offices, gets to the congressmen faster than it would if sent to their actual offices.

You can go to this link:

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Just click on the name and it will take you to his or her website where the mailing address of the district office can be found.

Check out this article printed by the Boston Herald

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1095637&format=comments#CommentsArea

-the cartoon that accompanies it is great!

~ Diane Clancy