The U.S. Copyright Office submitted its “Report on Orphan Works” to the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 31, 2006.

The U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property conducted an Oversight Hearing on The Report on March 8, 2006.
The Copyright Office insisted that its proposal does not remove copyright for orphan works, and requires, in most cases, that the user pay the copyright owner reasonable compensation for the use of the work. However, there were no witnesses representing the visual arts at the Hearing. The visual arts had to rely on David Trust, representing photographers, to raise the same concerns as the visual artists.

After being alerted to the pending legislation, the ACC began its research on the previous developments and began monitoring the legislative calendar. Subsequently, H.R. 5439 to amend title 17, United States Code, “to provide for limitation of remedies in cases in which the copyright owner cannot be located, and for other purposes” was introduced in the House of Representatives on May 22, 2006.

ACC’s Gina Cabrera attended a subsequent markup hearing which was held on May 24, 2006 and the Bill was forwarded by the Subcommittee to the Full Committee by a Voice Vote. Following that action of the bill, the ACC created the Orphan Works Task Force and urged its members and individual artists to get involved and contact their representatives. Gina and ACC’s General Counsel Joshua Kaufman met with Joe Keeley, Counsel for the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property of the House Judiciary Committee on August 1, 2006 to voice the ACC’s members’ concerns on the egregious effect the legislation could have on the visual arts industry and offered specific changes to the legislation. Following the meeting, Josh reached out to other industry leaders who have also voiced their positions concerning the Bill and continued to work on amendment language agreeable to all parties but protective of the visual arts to submit to the Chairman of the Committee for consideration.

The ACC will continue to monitor this legislation, keep ACC members and Orphan Works Task Force members informed and do everything we can to "protect art and creativity."