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Draft Letter to Representatives

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Re: H.R. 5889. the Orphan Works Act of 2008

Dear Representative ________________________________:

I am one of your constituents, a professional photographer, and a member of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP). I am writing to thank you for including many important protections for professional photographers in the current (May 20, 2008) language of H.R. 5889 and to urge you not to approve any changes to that language that would reduce those protections or in any way, directly or indirectly, be to the detriment of professional photographers. By way of example, the requirement that infringers must file a Notice of Use before using an orphan work and that all such Notices must be maintained in a "dark archive" are critical to protecting our interests under this Bill.

Orphan works legislation is entirely for the benefit of the user community at the expense of the copyright owner community, particularly the creators of visual artworks, such as professional photographers. The current language of the bill contains the bare minimum of what photographers need and can accept, and any reductions in the protections for photographers, direct or indirect, will make the legislation unfair, unreasonable and unacceptable.

The user community must realize that it is getting access to copyrighted works for free, so it is completely appropriate for its members to be required to comply with some administrative requirements. Similarly, the Copyright Office exists to serve both the public and the copyright owners, and it must be willing to comply with any reasonable changes in its procedures that would benefit both groups at reasonable cost.

The current language H.R. 5889 already erodes my rights under the Copyright Act. I urge you to protect my existing rights and not to allow any changes that would be to my further detriment in any way. Thank you for your time, attention and support.

Respectfully yours,
(your name)