Orphan Works Bill now part of HR 6052

The Orphan Works Bill now has been folded, without change, into a larger bill, HR6052, called the Copyright Modernization Act of 2006. Also included are unrelated copyright law changes affecting digital music download. Markup was scheduled for Wednesday September 13, but at the meeting the bill was removed from the calendar.

ASMP’s General Counsel, Victor Perlman, on behalf of the coalition of photography organizations, attended the meeting and reports on the ASMP Orphan Works page :

ASMP is checking with sources on Capitol Hill to see whether there is any significant chance that the bill will be placed on another markup calendar later this year, or whether it is likely to die without further action in this Congress. If it dies in this Congress, proponents of an Orphan Works bill will have to have a new bill introduced in the next Congress (next year), and the whole process will begin again from square one.

ASMP fully expects that, if this Congress ends without passing the bill, the copyright-user community will not rest and will seek to have a new bill introduced next year.