At a time in the US when political cartoonists are looking eligible for inclusion on the Endangered Species list, along comes congress to throw salt on wound with the “Orphan Works Act of 2006″.

If the “Orphan Works Act of 2006″ (H.R. 5439), passes, most of the life’s work of America’s political cartoonists, and most of the life’s work of most illustrators, will become “orphaned” and worthless, causing long term harm and financial difficulty to people who fought for years to make a living making pictures. A group called the Illustrator’s Partnership, a trade group that represents artists, has listed changes the bill needs to include in order to protect artists. These are:

1.) Precisely define an orphan work as a copyright no longer managed by a rights holder;

2.) Precisely define the steps a user must take before infringing the work;

3.) Eliminate the unrestricted use of a copyrighted work in a “transformative” work;

4.) Restrict the use of orphan works to not-for-profit uses;

5.) Restore full remedies for infringement as the only means rights holders have for protecting their intellectual property.

For more information on the “Orphan Works Act of 2006” (H.R. 5439), visit www.illustratorspartnership.org. The Illustrators Partnership is urging artists to write to their congressional representatives now to stop or amend the bill; The Utah Democrats is urging everyone who reads this to call, write and email their congressional representatives and let their voices be heard.

The Illustrators Partnership has sample letters and suggestions of the most important congressional representatives to contact. Cartoonists and illustrators need your help.

(Hat tip and ridiculous amount of plagiarism – Daryl Cagle via the Cagle Newsletter)