Gonzalo Barr

Today, April 23, is World Book and Copyright Day.  It is a date established by UNESCO to promote reading, publishing, and the protection of intellectual property rights throughout the world.

It is also the date when Miguel de Cervantes, Shakespeare, and Garcilaso de la Vega died in 1616.  And it is the feast of St. George, patron saint of England and Catalonia.  In Barcelona, it is customary to give a book and a rose in celebration of today.

A more extensive earlier post on World Book and Copyright Day and on the feast of St. George is here.

Here is a segment from the German television program, “Euromaxx,” on World Book Copyright Day and the celebrations in Barcelona (in English) –

Photo:  Miguel Ugaldi; Thanks to Diari d’un llibre vell blog for the link to the video.

It would have been easy to miss this, given the big bailout that is consuming Congress and the White House, and keeping us up at nights. But last Friday, the Senate passed the Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008 (S. 2913).

Essentially, what the bill does is restrict the damages that can be awarded to the owner of the copyright to an orphan work when the infringer can show that he complied with certain requirements listed in the bill.

Orphan works are those that are still under copyright, but the owner cannot be found. This bill specifies what someone who wants to use the work has to do before he can state that the work has been truly orphaned.

Here’s the summary of the bill prepared by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress –

Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008 - Limits the remedies in a civil action brought for infringement of copyright in an orphan work, notwithstanding specified provisions and subject to exceptions, if the infringer meets certain requirements, including proving that: (1) the infringer performed and documented a reasonably diligent search in good faith to locate and identify the copyright owner before using the work, but was unable to locate and identify the owner; and (2) the infringing use of the work provided attribution to the owner of the copyright, if known.

Limits monetary compensation to reasonable compensation for the use of the infringed work. Prohibits such compensation if the infringer is a nonprofit educational institution, museum, library, or archive, or a public broadcasting entity and if the infringer proves that: (1) the infringement is performed without any commercial advantage and is primarily educational, religious, or charitable in nature;and (2) the infringer ceases the infringement expeditiously after receiving notice of the claim for infringement. Allows injunctive relief to prevent or restrain infringement, subject to exception and limitation.

Directs the Register of Copyrights to: (1) undertake a process to certify that databases are available that facilitate searching for pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works protected by copyright; (2) report to the House and Senate judiciary committees on the implementation and effects of certain amendments made by this Act, including any recommendations for legislative changes; and (3) report to those committees on remedies for copyright infringement claims by an individual copyright owner or a related group of copyright owners seeking small amounts of monetary relief.

Directs the Comptroller General to report to such committees on the function of the deposit requirement in the copyright registration system.

Marybeth Peters, the Register of Copyrights at the US Copyright Office, published a summary of why her office supports the bill –

The legislation is sensible: it would ease the orphan problem by reducing, but not eliminating, the exposure of good faith users. But there are clear conditions designed to protect copyright owners. A user must take all reasonable steps, employ all reasonable technology, and execute the applicable search practices to be submitted to the Copyright Office by authors, associations, and other experts. The user must meet other hurdles, including attaching an orphan symbol to the use, to increase transparency and the possibility that an owner may emerge. If an owner does emerge, the user must pay “reasonable compensation” or face full liability. Reasonable compensation will be mutually agreed by the owner and the user or, failing that, be decided by a court; but it must also reflect objective market values for the work and the use. This framework would facilitate projects that are global (think rare text in the hands of a book publisher) as well as local (think family portraits in the hands of a photo finisher), while preserving the purpose and potential of copyright law. It would not inject orphan works prematurely into the public domain, create an automatic exception for all uses, or create a permanent class of orphan works. Nor would it minimize the value of any one orphan work by mandating a government license and statutory rate.

The bill must be passed by the House and signed by the president before it becomes law. I sent an email to the Authors Guild requesting their position on this bill and will report what that position is once I receive an answer.

The entire text of the Shawn Bentley Orphan Works bill (S. 2913) is here.

(Update Sept. 29, 2008):  I received a response from the Legal Department of the Authors Guild.  The Guild does not have a position on the House or Senate bills.  They do see some potential complications in the bills with respect to visual art works.  The Guild lawyers submitted a reply comment to the US Copyright Office. Their comment can be found here.

Sources: govtrack.us, copyright.gov, article on “orphan works,” Wikipedia

UNESCO has declared April 23 World Book and Copyright Day to promote reading, publishing, and the protection of intellectual property rights throughout the world.

The idea of a book day started in several countries at once. Spain established it in 1926. Originally, the event was held on October 7 to commemorate the birth (or baptism, historically the date is unclear) of Miguel de Cervantes. England also established a similar event, but held it on April 23, the day Shakespeare died in 1616. In 1930, Spain moved the date to April 23, which was also the day Cervantes died the same year as Shakespeare, as did one of the earliest classic writers of America, Garcilaso de la Vega. Catalonians in northeast Spain embraced the event. The date coincided with Catalonia’s most important feast day, St. George’s Day (or “Diada de Sant Jordi,” in Catalan).

Saint George was born in the late third century in what is today known as Turkey. He was a Roman soldier. When he defied the emperor’s orders to execute Christians, he was beheaded. He was canonized and became the patron saint of England, Georgia, Greece, Serbia, and Catalonia.  (The legend of his slaying the dragon was added later.)

April 23 is an especially important day for Catalans.  On that day, Catalans not only remember their patron saint, they also celebrate courtliness, a virtue ascribed to Saint George.  That is how the tradition of handing out roses arose.  Add to that literature and you have the Barcelonese custom of giving books and red roses on that day.

In 1995, UNESCO adopted the event and since then has been promoting it worldwide.

See also the Universal Copyright Convention (1952, rev. 1971)

Image: St. George, Source: UNESCO