A good resource to reference the thinking and history of the so-called orphan works issue can be found here.
This article was written by Ms. Marybeth Peters, who will undoubtedly play a key role in the assessment of the procedures related to qualifying private registries. In all fairness, the article (written in 2006) presents the topic rather convincingly.
However, the key question when it comes to the issue of the orphan works bills, as they currently stand, resides in the last sentence of the article that states the following:
“Part of the challenge in addressing such a problem is ensuring that it is fully consistent with and does not derogate from the legitimate interests of authors and rights holders, and that it complies with international copyright rules that prohibit the imposition of formalities that are a condition to the enjoyment and exercise of copyright.”
The emphasis on this very critical point about dealing with such a difficult case is what is at stake for artists. These are the key elements that remain to be answered when it comes to the current documents making their rounds in Congress.
It appears to me that the consensus and resolution cannot be reached until Congress articulates a viable process to the challenge described by Ms. Peters. That is, I believe that the consensus on the challenge itself is already there, but we have not achieved a consensus on the mechanism.
