Orphan Works - Coerced Registration Could Cause Artists To Lose Rights

I received this information from a friend at The Fairy Society today and want to get the word out as widely as possible. Read on:

"Forward this on to everyone you know who would be affected. This is crucial!

Here's what's happening:
The US government, as well as a few countries in Europe are trying to pass legislation that requires all artists of any kind (artists, designers, musicians,
writers, filmakers) to register their creations with private registries for a fee.

If your creations are not registered, they become "Orphaned Works," which means basically that they have no copyright and become public domain--
meaning that **anyone can sell or distribute them without the original artist seeing any income whatsoever.**

Read more about it here:

Mind Your Business - You Will Lose All Rights To Your Art

If the Orphan Works legislation passes, you and I and all creatives will lose virtually all the rights to not only our future work but to everything we've
created over the past 34 years, unless we register it with the new, untested and privately run (by the friends and cronies of the U.S. government) registries.

Even then, there is no guarantee that someone wishing to steal your personal creations won't successfully call your work an orphan work, and then legally
use it for free.

In short, if Congress passes this law, YOU WILL LOSE THE RIGHT TO MAKE MONEY FROM YOUR OWN CREATIONS!

Sign a petition against this act:

PETITION