Orphan Works comment 0569

Sarah E. Thomas Carl A. Kroch University Librarian March 23, 2005 Jule L. Sigall Associate Register for Policy & International Affairs U.S. Copyright Office Copyright GC/I&R P.O. Box 70400, Southwest Station Washington DC 20024 Re: Response by the Cornell University Library to the Notice of Inquiry Concerning Orphan Works, 70 FR 3739 January 26, 2005 Dear Mr. Sigall: I am writing on behalf of the Cornell University Library in response to the Federal Register notice seeking information on how the difficulty in locating the copyright owners of orphan works has affected “the progress of science and the arts.” “Orphan works” (works for which the copyright owner cannot be identified or found) have been a substantial problem for the library for a number of years. For example, we have been involved in an initiative funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities to preserve the literature of agriculture. The Core Historical Literature of Agriculture (CHLA) is a core collection of texts published between the early nineteenth century and the mid-twentieth century in the fields of agricultural economics, agricultural engineering, animal science, crops and their protection, food science, forestry, human nutrition, rural sociology, and soil science. Scholars selected the titles in this collection for their historical importance. More on the importance of the project can be found on its web site at