New from Berkeley Digital Library Copyright Project: Third White Paper on Causes of the Orphan Works Problem

Released today by the  The Orphan Works and Mass Digitization Symposium: Obstacles and Opportunities begins tomorrow at Claremont Hotel, Berkeley CA. Here’s the agenda.

White Paper #3 was released today by the Berkeley Digital Library Copyright Project.

Title

Orphan Works: Causes of the Problem
Berkeley Digital Library Copyright Project White Paper No. 3

Author

David Robert Hansen
University of California, Berkeley – School of Law

Abstract

The orphan works problem can be traced in part to several recent changes in the way copyright law grants rights to owners and in the way that users consume copyrighted works. Broadly defined as the situation where the owner of a copyrighted work cannot be located by someone who wishes to make use of the work in a manner that requires authorization, the problem of orphan works may have existed in theory since the first copyright laws came into effect. But in recent years, at least four developments have exacerbated the problem: (1) the elimination of copyright formalities, (2) the progressive extension of copyright terms, (3) technological advances that allow authors to create and preserve more copyrightable works, and (4) technological changes in the way users access and consume copyrighted works, especially in the shift from print to digital. This paper seeks to familiarize the reader with these developments and the ways that they have brought the orphan works issue to the forefront.

Download Full Text (via SSRN)

See Also: “Orphan Works: Mapping the Possible Solution Spaces”
Paper No. 2

See Also: “Orphan Works: Definitional Issues”
Paper No. 1