Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act 2008

Well, fellow photogs, it's that time again. Some folks up on Capitol Hill are once again trying to redefine copyright and orphan work law, and intentionally or not are putting the screws to photographers.

A collection of information about the bill can be found here at OpenCongress.org.

It passed the judiciary committee and will be moving to the floor for open vote.

If you also think this is a crock of porpoise hork, please call your senators and ask them to vote against the measure. Don't worry, you won't actually be speaking with the senator, but rather an aide.

Forget about email and post. Pick up a phone.

(And seriously, Sen. Kyl, have someone check and delete messages on your DC office number. I'm a little hacked off that I get a "this mailbox is full" message when I call.)

I'm all in favor of taking another look at copyright law, but this orphan works act makes it far too easy for your legitimate holdings to fall into the realm of public domain. It also makes it a lot harder (read: more expensive) to prevent someone from grabbing your work.