Hey guys, 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.
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: https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/02/10/2014-02830/orphan-works-... 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!
Here is the text of the comment I already submitted in case it is useful:
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.
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): "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."
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).
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.
Ryan Kaldari