The US Copyright Office recognises that there is a orphan works problem, and famous consitutional copyright lawyer Larry Lessig is happy about that, but disagrees with their proposed solutions. He feels that instead of opening up all works to the possibility of becoming orphans, only American works over a certain age should be orphanable. Also, he feels that the USCO’s proposal for limited remedies for resurfaced authors does not go far enough; he believes that once-orphaned works belong in the public domain.
Basically, Lessig feels that his Public Domain Enhancement Act (PDEA), a law proposal that he and Eric Eldred thought up after they lost their case before the Supreme Court of the USA, is still valid.
Edit: A committee of the House of Representatives will have a publically webcast hearing about the USCO’s report in an hour or so, but unfortunately only in Real Media.
