Report on Orphan Works A Report of the Register of Copyrights · January 2006 w Library of Congress U. S. Copyright Office 101 Independence Avenue SE Washington, DC 20559-6000 UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT OFFICE REPORT ON ORPHAN WORKS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This Report is the product of several dedicated staff members of the U.S. Copyright Office. Jule Sigall, Associate Register for Policy and International Affairs, managed the study and was the principal drafter of the Report. Oliver Metzger and Matt Skelton, Attorney-Advisors in the Office of Policy and International Affairs, along with Rob Kasunic, a Principal Legal Advisor in the Office of General Counsel, composed the team that performed the research and analysis for the study, and drafted many sections of the Report. David Carson, General Counsel of the Copyright Office, provided wise counsel and sound advice throughout the process. Mary Rasenberger, Policy Advisor for Special Programs, provided research and analysis in the early stages of this project. Todd Schnitzer, Sharmili Hazra and Chris Stillabower, legal interns in the Office of Policy and International Affairs, all provided valuable research assistance to the project. Jill Pelkola led the administrative support for the project by receiving and processing the over 850 comments from the public and handling logistics for the roundtable discussions. Ed Rogers and George Thuronyi provided valuable assistance in building the orphan works web page, including making the written comments available to the public within days of their receipt in the Office. Helen Hester-Ossa, Teresa McCall and Chuck Gibbons provided excellent assistance in printing and publishing the Report. Denise Prince, Sandy Jones and Cecily Patterson also provided administrative support for the study. I must provide a special thanks to Peter Menell, Robert Barr and David Grady at the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology of the University of California – Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, for arranging to host the California roundtable, and to the staff of the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property of the House Judiciary Committee, particularly Joe Keeley, for arranging to host the Washington roundtable discussion. Marybeth Peters Register of Copyrights UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT OFFICE REPORT ON ORPHAN WORKS TABLE OF CONTENTS I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...........................................................................................................................1 A. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................1 B. DESCRIPTION OF ORPHAN WORKS SITUATIONS ...............................................................................................2 C. LEGAL BACKGROUND ......................................................................................................................................3 D. DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED SOLUTIONS ..........................................................................................................5 E. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.........................................................................................................7 1. The Reasonably Diligent Search Requirement...........................................................................................8 2. The Attribution Requirement....................................................................................................................10 3. Other Alternatives Considered .................................................................................................................11 4. Limitation on Remedies............................................................................................................................11 a. Monetary Relief.................................................................................................................................................... 12 b. Injunctive Relief................................................................................................................................................... 13 5. Administrative Provisions ........................................................................................................................14 6. International Context ................................................................................................................................14 7. Application to Types of Uses ...................................................................................................................14 II. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND ...............................................................................................15 A. THE ORPHAN WORKS ISSUE...........................................................................................................................15 B. THE ORPHAN WORKS STUDY.........................................................................................................................17 III. DESCRIPTION OF ORPHAN WORK SITUATIONS...........................................................................21 A. INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................................................................21 B. OBSTACLES TO IDENTIFYING AND LOCATING COPYRIGHT OWNERS ..............................................................23 1. Inadequate Information on the Work Itself...............................................................................................23 2. Changes of Ownership or in the Circumstances of the Owner .................................................................26 a. Changes of Ownership ......................................................................................................................................... 27 b. Changes in the Circumstances of the Owner ........................................................................................................ 28 3. Limitations of Existing Information Resources........................................................................................29 a. Copyright Office Resources ................................................................................................................................. 29 b. Third-Party Information Resources ...................................................................................................................... 30 c. Specific Limitations.............................................................................................................................................. 31 4. Difficulties Researching Copyright Information ......................................................................................32 5. Problems Outside the Scope of the Study.................................................................................................34 a. Copyright Owner Known, But Permission Not Obtained..................................................................................... 34 b. Problems Determining Copyright Status .............................................................................................................. 34 c. Problems Related to Pre-1972 Sound Recordings ................................................................................................ 35 C. CATEGORIES OF PROPOSED USES ...................................................................................................................36 1. Uses by Subsequent Creators ...................................................................................................................36 2. Large-Scale Access Uses..........................................................................................................................37 3. Enthusiast Uses.........................................................................................................................................38 4. Private Uses..............................................................................................................................................39 IV. LEGAL BACKGROUND...........................................................................................................................41 A. HISTORICAL FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE ORPHAN WORKS PROBLEM...........................................................41 B. PROVISIONS IN U.S. COPYRIGHT LAW THAT RELATE TO ORPHAN WORKS ....................................................44 1. Section 108(h) ..........................................................................................................................................45 2. Section 115(b) ..........................................................................................................................................47 3. Section 504(c)(2) Limitation on Damages................................................................................................49 4. Sections 203, 304(c), and 304(d)..............................................................................................................50 C. OTHER RELEVANT LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS .................................................................................................52 1. Section 102(b) -- The Idea/Expression Dichotomy ..................................................................................53 2. Section 107 -- Fair Use.............................................................................................................................55 Page i REPORT ON ORPHAN