Even if that's the case, this law goes about solving it the wrong way, and even if the intent of the legislation is meant only rectify that situation, it could have devastating unintended consequences.
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In short, this would change the law from saying that everything should be assumed protected by copyright unless the person who wants to use it can prove otherwise, to the assumption that everything is orphaned unless the author finds out about it and can prove otherwise. That's my take on it anyway, and it strikes me as a horrendously bad idea.
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In short, this would change the law from saying that everything should be assumed protected by copyright unless the person who wants to use it can prove otherwise, to the assumption that everything is orphaned unless the author finds out about it and can prove otherwise. That's my take on it anyway, and it strikes me as a horrendously bad idea.
These are the fundamental points people seem to miss. The unintended consequences are dangerous. Under current copyright law, you do not need to register anything to protect your copyright. This law would reverse that and require that you have your work in every registry to have a plausible chance at protecting it, and worse, gives infringers a very easy out.
BTW, the podcast interview is much better than the article IMHO.
