Press Release
September 30, 2005
National Archives Presents Program on "Orphan Works and the Visual Record"
Washington, DC…On Friday, November 18, the National Archives, in partnership with the Charles Guggenheim Center for the Documentary Film at the National Archives and the Center for Social Media, and the Program on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest, American University, presents a panel discussion on a timely issue in copyright law, so-called "orphan works". These copyrighted works remain unavailable to those who would benefit from access to them because the "orphan works" defy the best efforts of would be licensees, including documentary filmmakers, to trace current rights holders.
Panelists are: Jeffrey P. Cunard (counsel to the College Art Association), Jule L. Sigall (U.S. Copyright Office), Maggie Burnette Stogner (Blue Bear Films), Robert B. Townsend (American Historical Association), and a representative of the Library of Congress. Peter Jaszi of American University Law School will moderate.
Addressing concerns that the uncertainty surrounding ownership of such works might needlessly discourage subsequent creators and users from incorporating such works in new creative efforts or making such works available to the public, the U.S. Copyright Office is engaged in an important study that aims to develop a solution.
The program is free and open to the public and will be held at 7 p.m. in the William G. McGowan Theater located in the National Archives Building on Constitution Avenue between 7th and 9th Streets, NW, Washington, DC.
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For press information, contact the National Archives Public Affairs staff at (202) 501-5526.
To verify the date and times of the programs, the public should call the Public Programs Line at: (202) 501-5000, for information, or view the Calendar of Events on the web site.
To contact the National Archives, please call 1-866-272-6272 or 1-86-NARA-NARA (TDD) 301-837-0482.
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