Hi all,
The EU IPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office) is the agency that
is responsible for operating an Orphan Works Database, as laid out in the
Orphan Works Directive.
Neither the Orphan Works Directive nor the OW Database have helped orphan
works being digitised and used, which was the original intention. Wikimedia
projects are a priori excluded from the scope and can't use the established
exception. Only cultural heritage institutions are allowed to benefit and
only after a diligent search (which no one really knows what it means). The
database itself is less than usable. Launched in 2014, it now holds only
around 5000 entries. The entries simply mention that a work is an orphan,
but don't link back to the work or offer preview.
Now, the EU IPO is doing a survey on the database and the orphan works
framework. Nothing of great importance, as the IPO can't propose changes to
legislation and DG CNCT doesn't really listen to them anyway, but the
survey is also opened to individuals. If you feel like having some fun:
https://www.tmdn.org/uss/466892/lang-en
Cheers,
Dimi