<div dir="ltr">On Wed, Feb 12, 2014 at 2:21 PM, Ryan Kaldari <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:rkaldari@wikimedia.org" target="_blank">rkaldari@wikimedia.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><div class="gmail_extra"><div class="gmail_quote">
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div><div><div><div>Hey guys,<br></div><div><div>The U.S. Federal Register is doing an RfC and Public Roundtable on
the issue of orphan works. I would really like for us to take this as an
opportunity to push for U.S. adoption of the "rule of the shorter
term", as this would solve our URAA problems on Commons and free
millions of orphan foreign works in the U.S.<br></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>I had been aware of this, but hadn't raised it here because most of the orphan works proposals I'm aware of are a lot like fair use - nice(ish) for lots of users, but not giving us the certainty we like to have when creating/distributing materials. But a rule of shorter term proposal would definitely give address one part of the orphan works problem in a way that would give us the certainty we like/need. <br>
<br>Luis<br></div><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div><div><div><div><div></div></div></div><div><div>
I've already submitted a formal comment as an independent
citizen, but it would be great if the WMF also submitted a comment. The
RfC page is at:<br><a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/02/10/2014-02830/orphan-works-and-mass-digitization-request-for-additional-comments-and-announcement-of-public" target="_blank">https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/02/10/2014-02830/orphan-works-and-mass-digitization-request-for-additional-comments-and-announcement-of-public</a><br>
</div></div></div><div><div><div>Note that the page doesn't mention the rule of the shorter
term at all, and I imagine the issue isn't even on their radar. Let's
fix that!<br></div><div><br></div>Here is the text of the comment I already submitted in case it is useful:<br>
<br>Due to the Uruguay Round Agreements Act
(URAA), there are now millions of orphan copyrighted works in the United
States that are public domain in their country of origin, for example,
the writings of Mahatma Gandhi. These works were previously public
domain in the United States but have had their copyrights restored by
the URAA. In most cases, it is virtually impossible to find out who
technically retains the copyright since few people are even aware that
the copyrights on these works have been restored in the US.<br>
<br>There is a simple legal solution to this situation. The United
States should adopt the "rule of the shorter term" as set out in the
Berne Convention (art. 7-8):<br>"the term shall be governed by the
legislation of the country where protection is claimed; however, unless
the legislation of that country otherwise provides, the term shall not
exceed the term fixed in the country of origin of the work."<br>
<br>Although the US is a signatory of the Berne Convention, we have
opted out of the rule of the shorter term (See 17 U.S.C. 104), and are
one of the few Berne Convention countries that does not practice it
(along with China and Venezuela). By refusing to adopt the rule of the
shorter term we are hurting the interests of all Americans in order to
benefit a small handful of foreign authors (or more accurately, the
companies and estates who control their copyright interests).<br>
<br>In light of the URAA, we should balance the interests of the public
with the interests of copyright holders by following the suggestions of
Berne Convention and adopting the rule of the shorter term.<br><br></div></div></div><span><font color="#888888">Ryan Kaldari<br></font></span></div>
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<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div dir="ltr">Luis Villa<br>Deputy General Counsel<br>Wikimedia Foundation<br><a href="tel:415.839.6885%20ext.%206810" value="+14158396885" target="_blank">415.839.6885 ext. 6810</a><br>
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