Orphan Works comment 0579

March 23, 2005 From: Tim Brooks, author To: Jule L. Sigall Associate Register for Policy & International Affairs U.S. Copyright Office Library of Congress Washington, DC orphanworks@loc.gov Subj: Comment on Orphan Works Inquiry I would like to offer some information from an as-yet unpublished study I conducted for the Council on Library and Information Resources, which may be of interest in the 1present inquiry. The following comments are mine and not those of the C.L.I.R. The principal goals of the study were to determine the proportion of historic sound recordings that are controlled by an existing rights holder, and the degree to which rights holders have made those recordings available, either directly or through licensees. Procedures were developed to identify rights holders and these will be detailed below. The study was carried out with the assistance of Steven Smolian. We are both recording industry historians and I have published three books and numerous articles on the subject (see appendix for biographical details). One possible limitation of the study for the purposes of the present inquiry is that it focuses on recordings released prior to 1965. Pre-1972 recordings are not generally covered by current U.S. copyright law, but rather remain under state and common law until the year 2067 (Title 17, Section 301(c)). Thus they may not be directly impacted by modifications in federal copyright law. However the procedures ...