May 28th, 2008 at 16:59 pm » Comments (1)

All members of the creative community, not just the designers, teachers, and pattern authors by hoping you will help them their livlihood

But also YOU the wonderful people who use thier patterns, charts and instructional materials will be the losers. if the Orphan Works is allowed to pass.

We are not asking for money, but…

Right now members of the Pattern & Design community desperately need your help.

If you respect the wonderful contributions made by all the designers, teachers, author and members have made to your life as a knitter or other user of yarns.

If you have ever benefited from the information so freely and generously shared by authors and others in groups or on websites or blogs or in one of the “along” projects,

If you have ever used a pattern and then enjoyed your personal use or the pleasure it gave someone you cared about as a gift,

If you SELL Patterns either as a Self Publisher or as a Retailer

Then please consider taking the time to help all members of the Design & Pattern Authoring community to

DEFEAT THE ORPHAN WORKS ACT

This is legislation currently pending (and headed for the floor) in both houses of Congress.

It is called the Orphan Works Act and its effect on the ability of a Designer to have reasonable protection for just fruits of their labor for your use and enjoyment will be devastating.

Please visit the newly created information site:
Orphan Works Opposition Headquarters

http://www.owoh.org

If you want those who work so hard to create new and interesting projects for you to be able to continue, then you need to take the time to let you Congress Critters in both houses know that if someone steals your red car and paints it blue, it is STILL a stolen vehicle and the owner deserves to get it back and to be compensated if it is mis-used.

Call their LOCAL offices, Send a letter, A postcard,

TELL THEM VOTE NO for the ORPHAN WORKS ACTS -

Then write about it in your blog with links to
Orphan Works Opposition Headquarters

http://www.owoh.org

Use the links from OWOH to send email via CapWiz so we can track the numbers sent.

And we really need you to do it this week or sooner

Please make the time, it is such a small but important act that will help someone you appreciate continue to creatively provide patterns and instructions for you. .

Wheat

Don’t Let Congress Kill Creativity -
Help Stop the ORPHAN WORKS BILL -
ACT NOW – Visit: http://www.owoh.org

May 9th, 2008 at 09:29 am » Comments (0)

Often times I find things written exactly as I wish I could:

This is one of those, although well mixed with, MMOG I wish it weren’t so important, but it is

Help yourself, help your future, and help keep the business of quality design alive:

>>>

Hi Everyone,

Most of you know that the 2008 versions of the Orphan Works legislation which were introduced by both the House and the Senate on April 25th have been fast tracked. The IP subcommittee of the House met to mark up the bill this afternoon, and the Senate subcommittee will be meeting tomorrow morning. The art licensing community is strongly opposed to the bills because we are extremely concerned about losing our ability to earn a living by licensing our work for commercial use– which is what we believe will happen if this legislation passes.

If enacted, this legislation will basically allow anyone to use a design after a ‘reasonable search’– without the copyright holder’s permission. Even if the copyright holder objects, he has no recourse because the bill eliminates the statutory damages that currently prevent rampant infringement. The bill further requires copyright holders to register their work on a digital database system that does not currently exist. Yet the bill will be enacted whether or not these databases­and the technology needed to effectively search them­ever come into existence. It is a very serious situation for all visual artists­ designers, photographers, illustrators, and painters­ as well as the manufacturers who license and use our work.

Attached to this e-mail are pdfs detailing the objections to the bills (one for the House version, one for the Senate version). I’ve also included a letter I sent to my Congressman, Ric Keller, along with some background information about the Art Licensing industry. Time is of the essence­ we need to let people know about the devastating consequences this legislation could have for us ­and we need to do it NOW.

Take Action: Don’t Let Congress Orphan Our Work
2 minutes is all it takes to write Congress and protect your copyright: Just click on the link below, put in your zip code and it will automatically bring up the e-dresses of your congressional leaders.

http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/

Thanks for taking action! Together we can make a difference.

Best wishes,
Joanne

PS Feel free to forward this message.

________________

Joanne Fink
Lakeside Design
345 Eden Trail
Lake Mary, FL 32746

407-330-4465
407-330-0778 fax

joanne@lakeside-design.com
www.lakeside-design.com

PDF with additional information”

Art Licensing Industry Background

OW Letter – Congressman Keller

PRIMARY Ojbections to HR 5889

PRIMARY Objections to S 2913