Thanks to Lori from Dr Sketchy’s Atlanta:
ILLUSTRATORS ‘ PARTNERSHIP OF AMERICA
Orphan Works: The Devil’s Own Day
Never Too Busy to Pass Special
Interest Legislation 9.28.08
As lawmakers struggled Friday to clean up the mess on Wall Street,
sponsors of the Orphan Works Act passed more special interest
legislation. Their bill would force copyright holders to subsidize giant
copyright databases run by giant internet firms.
Look up your representatives and tell them what you think!
Like the companies now needing billion dollar bailouts, these copyright
registries – which would theoretically contain the entire copyright
wealth of the US – would presumably be “too big to fail.” Yet it’s our
wealth, not theirs, the scheme would risk.
Small business owners didn’t ask for this legislation. We don’t want it
and we don’t need it. Our opposition numbers have been growing daily. So
Friday, the bill’s sponsors reached for the hotline.
What is Hotlining?
Critics of hotlining say “that lawmakers are essentially signing off on
legislation neither they nor their staff have ever read.”
“In order for a bill to be hotlined, the Senate Majority Leader and
Minority Leader must agree to pass it by unanimous consent, without a
roll-call vote. The two leaders then inform Members of this agreement
using special hotlines installed in each office and give Members a
specified amount of time to object – in some cases as little as 15
minutes. If no objection is registered, the bill is passed.”
– Roll Call, Sept 17, 2007
In other words, a Senate bill can pass by “unanimous consent” even if
some Senators don’t know about it.
The Devil’s Own Day
Senators Leahy and Hatch hotlined the Orphan Works Act twice last
summer. Each time came at the end of a day, at the end of a week, near
the end of a legislative session. Each time lawmakers were distracted by
other issues and other plans. Each time artists rallied quickly and each
time a Senator put a hold on the bill.
Friday the Senators found a new opportunity.
With lawmakers struggling to package a 700 billion dollar bailout to
avert a worldwide economic meltdown, with the rest of the country
focused on Presidential debates, with Washington in chaos and
Congressional phone lines jammed, they hotlined an amended bill. On
short notice, even the legislative aides we could reach by phone said
they didn’t have time to read it. And so, while we were rushing to get
out a second email blast to artists, the bill passed by “unanimous
consent” – in other words, by default.
What better way to pass a bill that was drafted in secret than to pass
it while nobody’s looking?
Since Friday, artists have been conducting bitter post mortems on their
blogs. That’s understandable, but it’s not time yet.
“When Sherman arrived at Grant’s headquarters later that evening, he
found the general – broken sword and all – chewing on a soggy cigar in
the rain, which had begun soaking the battlefield.
‘Well, Grant,’ Sherman said to his friend, ‘we’ve had the devil’s own
day, haven’t we?’
‘Yes,’ replied Grant, ‘lick ’em tomorrow, though.'”
The Senate passed their bill Friday, but the House hasn’t. There’s still
time to write, phone and fax your congressional representatives. Tell
them not to let the House Judiciary Committee fold their bill and adopt
the Senate’s.
Tell Congress to protect the private property of small businesses. Lick
’em tomorrow.
– Brad Holland and Cynthia Turner, for the Board of the Illustrators’
Partnership
Quote from “The Devil’s Own Day,” by Christopher Allen, January 2000
America’s Civil War Magazine
TAKE ACTION: EMAIL CONGRESS TONIGHT
Tell the House Judiciary Committee not to adopt the Senate version.
Look up your representatives on Google and tell them what you think.