Re: more on orphan works

[Walter Dufresne <wdufresne@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Why is it that in dealing with real property, there is usually not  
> near the difficulty in learning who the property owner is and  
> consummating a valid transaction than in the intellectual property  
> world?

That's too easy a question.  I've done a few real property title  
searches in both Connecticut and New York.  Real property has a  
couple of wonderful characteristics:  it's not portable, it's not  
distributable, it's not duplicable.  Along with real property,  
certain personal properties (automobiles, trucks, snowmobiles,  
trailers, all-terrain vehicles, the whole panoply of gasoline-engine- 
powered vehicles) are subject to *compulsory* registration and  
taxation in many US states and cities.

> Why isn't there more compelling interests for copyright owners to  
> be more proactive about their whereabouts?

The difficulty of registering in the USA, the ease of stripping  
metadata out of digital files, the ease of mangling or removing  
credit lines, the publishing industry's affection for working with  
creatives who don't register, lack of business acumen, what else have  
I forgotten?

In recent years, the US Postal Service destroyed the machine- 
readability of the material deposits for attempted registrations sent  
to the Copyright Register:  irradiating compact disks in an effort to  
secure the US mail from the anthrax attacks of late 2001 made some  
number of disks *un-readable*, including seven of my own attempted  
registrations prior to switching to FedEx.  That's disheartening,  
though the new web-based registration system is cause for optimism.

Respectfully,
==============================================
 Walter Dufresne, adjunct assistant professor
Advertising Design and Graphic Arts Department
  New York City College of Technology / CUNY
   300 Jay Street, Brooklyn, NY  11201-2983
==============================================
31 Montgomery Place, Brooklyn, NY  11215-2342
 tel:  +1.718.622.1901  fax:  +1.718.789.1452
     e-mail:  wdufresne@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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