Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/11/09
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 10:20 AM 11/9/2004, you wrote: >And those lawyers will undoubtedly attempt to >use the law as Neil is interpreting it. They already are taking every right that they can under the present copyright laws. This bill is to take some of the rights back! Corbis and Getty and large publishers are currently using work for hire and rights grabbing contracts to try to force photographers to give up all rights to their photos. PPA, ASMP, and EP are working to prevent this by extending individual photographers' copyrights through this bill. With the present copyright law, lawyers will not take copyright infringement cases unless the copyright is registered with the copyright office, in spite of the fact that your photograph is copyrighted the minute you press the shutter. This bill eliminates some of the loopholes that have been used to take away individual photographers' rights. Read the provisions again. They have been written to protect photographers' rights. >>-Infringers will no longer be able to use innocent errors in a >>copyright registration to have a case dismissed. >>-Department of Justice may elect to bring civil copyright suits >>against infringers - with damage awards going to the copyright owner >>as restitution. >>-Eliminates registration requirement for infringement actions by the >>U.S. Government >>-Allows courts to treat parts of a collective work as individual >>works for statutory damages purposes. >>-Creates a program to educate the public regarding the importance of >>intellectual property and the harms associated with infringement. >>-Authorizes at least $15 million for criminal copyright investigations in >>2005. >>-Makes it easier to prove damages in criminal prosecutions against >>online infringers >>-Allocates $2 million for better training of U.S. Attorney's Office >>personnel on intellectual property issues. Tina Tina Manley, ASMP www.tinamanley.com http://www.pdiphotos.com http://www.workbookstock.com http://www.newscom.com http://www.americanphotojournalist.com