Copyright Office Comment Ends 8/24/15

we already see disney stuff

i also thought it was 70 years after it was made.


hard to say a disney work is orphaned though.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Could be 70 years. For some reason 90 stuck in my head. I wish we could get our associations to work on changing that part of the law, but I realize people can't think or care about that far into the future.

"Why can't the rights stay with the heirs and be bought and sold like anything else."

Good idea.

Jennifer
I think the government is concerned that all these images will not be available for historical uses. They don't want America's history to be owned and possibly not available. This can be written into law that after 70 years the images are available only for historical purposes for free. The way the law is written now, artists won't be able to make much of a living. There will be so much free and good artwork available. Want a canvas for you're living room? Just get one of those Fine Art America's artists work and have a $15 print made. Fine Arts America? Who are they?
I am going to write my congressmen and senators today about this. You can get your peoples email addresses here: http://www.congressmerge.com/onlinedb/index.htm
Write PPA, ASMP etc. Write the copyright office before the 24th.
Do I think anyone cares about artists 50 years out? If you are a typical me, me, me American I don't think so, but artsy people are different.

There, I wrote to PPA, ASMP and all my congress people. Felt good.
George

I am sure you don't understand why I am so concerned about an artists ability to make a living 50 or 100 years out. I have grandkids and I will have great grandkids someday and so do you. I have seen big greedy corporations come into the stock photography business and turn us into slaves by selling unlimited rights to images for $1.00. I am 70 years old and I planned to pay for most of my retirement with my stock photography. Today I am working hard at stock and I am making 1/10 of what I made 20 years ago. I see my agents selling rights managed photos to big corporations for $4.00.
Twenty years ago, when royalty free came out I could see that RF was nothing but bad for the industry. I screamed my head off in the internet. They even wrote about me in Photo District News. Others photogs said there will always be a market for good creative photography. I said the mid-section of the market will be devastated. That is where most of us make our money. They said that RF will only be little bad pictures. I laughed. They said it is a new market and we will make money. I said the market will be 3 feet deep in photography. The photographers did absolutely nothing. Some of them called me insulting names. Look where stock photography is today for most of us.
Do I think that by a few of us writing letters is going to change anything right away. Hell no. I am going to write PPA, ASMP, Copyright Office and my congress people every 6 months until my little fingers can't hit the send button anymore. It's just copy and paste. Put it on you to-do list into the future. Maybe after a couple of years I can get a couple of hundred people writing every six months they will take notice.
You should take a good look at your grandkids. If they decide to be artists what is their world going to be like if there are free images everywhere. If you don't have grandkids I can send you pictures of mine. I know this is an abstract concept, but I think you should think about it.

you can't worry that far out. in 50 years, they could have images that go right into your mind. after that, 3d versions. and all these flat images will just be a, eh so what kind of thing. sort of the way a slide rule isn't even useful as a ruler. i do think copyrights should go free after a while. now if your kids are privy to it, they can extend the license but the timing has to be right and the images have to be worth something. by the way things are going these days, they won't be worth all that much.

only money talks when it comes to govt things. letters don't do much, i wouldn't waste my time. what my things will be worth way in the future is unknown. i can't worry myself about it.

i'm happy we have PD images. i'm colorizing things, and those donated items, not many would have ever seen the light of day.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Thanks George for the heads up.

Went to the site and put in my 2 cents.

Bill Tomsa

http://billtomsa.blogspot.com/