Month: June 2008

Origins [recap]

We had a rather rocky start, kinda spun a bad vibe for me for the rest of the weekend. When we first arrived, we were really lost, so I called Laura (the asst director) to try and figure out where we could unload, I was a little shocked when Thesser answered since I was expecting a woman’s voice… he was awesome, he sent a volunteer with a cart to help me out. Everyone was so friendly and helpful! I got to finally meet Andy Hopp (who was also the guest of honor) if you ever get the chance to meet him, he’s a whirlwind of fun.

Over all it was a decent show, smaller than what I though it was. Next year I need to rethink my layout… I definitely need something on the end of my table to draw people in, much like I ended up doing for Tim’s booth… too many people passed right by me without glancing in. >.it’s all good stuff.

I had a ton of fun with Tim & Mike, Columbus is Beautiful, and that North Market is awesome.

Andy was pimping the hell out of his Con on the Cob, which sounds really fun, but I’m not sure if it’d be worth it for us to drive all the way out there… But it all depends on the outcome of GenCon, and what else there is here that I can do locally.

The entire Origins Art Show Staff was just an awesome bunch!

I know there are more pictures of me, the group photo and several candid shots taken by the origins photographer, that will eventually show up on the Origins website… I’ll post them once they are up.

PICTURES!



Tim has 7 days to live… Left to Right: Tim Lantz & Mike Bocianowski @ Ted’s Montana Grill (btw, they have awesome Bison Meatloaf!)

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My Booth:

The tables were much smaller than I’m used to, and I had to set Maya’s stuff up in her own little spot.

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My Art Contest Entries:

At first I wasn’t going to enter, because I spent all of my high school and college year in formal competition, for me that’s something you do when you’re younger. But I changed my mind later on… and entered “Lament” in Best Color & “Jack & Jill” in Best Monochrome. To my surprise… Lament won First Place in Color and First Place in Fan Favorite. Jack & Jill came in Second. I was completely surprised by either placing as they did, and floored that Lament came in First for Fan Favorite. ^__^

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Commissions:

One one is a true commission (the half-elf with long black hair), the other was a donation. One of the other artists there is building a sketch book to be auctioned and the entire proceeds will go to the Columbus Children’s Hospital.


ORIGINS!

I’ll be at Origins this weekend June 26-29th. My booth number is B013!


Maya (aka Static White) won’t be there in person but some of her handmade creatures will be hanging out at my booth!

Make sure you stop by and pay us a visit,
We are bound to have something that tickles your fancy!

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

If you’re not able to see our stuff in person you can always find us at:
FayeIllustration. Etsy. com
SWStitchery. Etsy. com

Pop on over anytime. Heart some things.
Buy handmade! Show us some love!

xx ~Connie

A Million People Against the Orphan Works Bill

FROM THE ILLUSTRATORS’ PARTNERSHIP

We support this petition. We urge you to sign it.
Please forward the link and urge others to sign.
http://www.petitiononline.com/Stop2913/petition.html

You can help increase the power of the petition by signing your real name and listing your artistic specialties. If you are not a US citizen, we suggest that you note your country, and state if it is a member of the Berne Convention.

This petition is sponsored by A Million People Against the Orphan Works Bill, a new grassroots group founded by multimedia journalist Steve Lehman on Facebook and Flickr. All people are welcome to participate; it is not exclusive to these websites.

In 1987, Lehman broke the story of Tibetan unrest, later profiled in his award winning book “The Tibetans Struggle to Survive.” As a visual artist intimately acquainted with the power of free speech, the protection afforded by the right to privacy, and the critical need for independent voices, Lehman, like the rest of us, is deeply troubled by any national policy that affects artists’ control over their works.

Please forward this message to every artist you know.

For additional information about Orphan Works developments, go to the IPA Orphan Works Resource Page for Artists at: http://www.illustratorspartnership.org/01_topics/article.php?searchterm=00185

Visual Artists Go to Washington (Orphaned Works Update)

From the ILLUSTRATORS PARTNERSHIP
Visual Artists Go to Washington, Independent Record Labels Oppose Orphan Works Act

Last week over two dozen visual artists, representing illustrators, photographers, fine artists and the arts licensing trades went to Capital Hill to explain to legislators how the Orphan Works Act will harm creators and the hundreds of thousands of art-related small businesses that serve and are dependent on them. At the same time, independent music labels have joined the opposition to orphan works legislation as it currently exists.

The Illustrators’ Partnership has stressed that Orphan Works legislation should be limited to true orphaned work and not act as an unwarranted compulsory license imposed on commercial markets. IPA, the Advertising Photographers of America and the Artists Rights Society have joined to offer amendments to that effect.

Excerpted from the Washington Internet Daily/Monday June 09, 2008:

The visual-arts community hit the Hill last week to protest what it portrays as a hijacking of the orphan-works issue as it was presented in a 2005 Copyright Office report…

The Copyright Office ran a bait-and-switch from its 2005 notice of intent, which focused on facilitating libraries’, museums’ and other nonprofits’ efforts to digitize collections to improve access to them, [Illustrators’ Partnership co-founder Brad] Holland said. Artists want the issue narrowed back to that focus, scrapping commercial use, he said…Copyright Office roundtables on orphan works never addressed alternates to registries, an “untested, untried, unaccountable market system” favoring Google, Getty, Corbis and other commercial aggregators, Holland said. [Cynthia] Turner [also of the Partnership] said artists would incur high costs registering works, and they hesitate to hand over high-res, commercial versions to Google or others.

In the same article, Washington Internet Daily also reports that the leading group of independent music labels has broken with the corporate music trade associations. The American Association of Independent Music has published a position paper opposing the current orphan works bills. The article quotes a music industry executive: “I can tell you that nobody in the music business” sought the bill.

… the executive said the bill is “de facto… establishing a new compulsory license” by putting unregistered artists at a legal disadvantage in court. The law can’t explicitly require registration or it will violate the Berne Convention, TRIPS and other treaties the U.S. has signed, the executive said. Book publishers and music executives in the U.K. think the U.S. will be in trouble, the executive said, citing a recent visit: “I can tell you there are European commissioners that are looking at this right now.”

-Excerpts from “Orphan-Works Bills Scorned by Visual Arts, Indie Labels” by Greg Piper, Washington Internet Daily June 09, 2008
Also see http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/27803/visual-artists-and-indie-record-labels-voice-concern-over-orphan-works-bills/

Please forward this message to every artist you know.

The Orphan Works Act: Warning to the Public

Should the general public care about the Orphan Works Act?
Yes, because the effects of this bill will expose any citizen’s visual images to infringement, including infringement for commercial purposes or distasteful uses.

Most people don’t understand current copyright law. But under current law, they don’t have to – the law itself protects them from not understanding it. Anything you create is considered your private property.
But under this amendment, all citizens would be required to understand that they must now take active steps – not to actually protect their work (because registries won’t protect it) – but merely to preserve their right to sue an infringer in federal court (in case they ever find out they’ve been infringed in the first place).
Otherwise, ignorance of copyright law will be be no excuse against an infringer who has done a “reasonably diligent search” for a photo he found on a blog, photo sharing site, Facebook page, or other source.
Proposal for Copyright Warning and Public Awareness Campaign
If this bill is passed, copyright will no longer be considered the exclusive right of the creator. Therefore, Congress should direct the Copyright Office to commence an awareness campaign to be conducted in all media, explaining to all copyright holders the new terms of copyright protection. Public warnings should state at least the following:
“Due to a change in US copyright law, citizens should now be aware that any creative expression they put into tangible form – from professional artwork to family photos – will be subject to infringement, including infringement for commercial uses, by anyone in the United States who is unable to locate them by what the infringer determines – and a court agrees – to be a reasonably diligent search.
“To preserve your right to sue infringers in federal court, you are advised to take active steps to assert authorship of every work you create.
“These steps will include inserting meta-data in each work, marking each work with a copyright symbol and contact information and registering each work in commercial databases where infringers can search for your work.
“Ignorance of copyright law will be be no excuse against an infringer who has done a “reasonably diligent search” according to guidelines established by Congress.”
This should be the minimum warning information and it should be issued to the public on an on-going basis to alert successive generations of the legal obligations they will have to observe as the price of creating art of any kind. We also ask Congress to direct the Copyright Office to establish and maintain local law clinics where creators and other citizens can seek clarification about their obligations under Orphan Works law.
Don’t Let Congress Orphan Your Work
You can urge Congress to oppose these bills by linking here to a special letter.
Tell Your Senators and Representatives to Oppose the Orphan Works Act at:
Please forward this message to every artist you know.

Orphaned Works Update

JUNE 2, 2008 An Orphan Works Update
Backers of the House version of the Orphan Works bill are now asking artists and photographers to oppose the Senate bill unless it’s amended to contain at least the “minimum provisions” that appear in the House version.

Although they don’t say so, opposing the Senate bill in this manner is a vote FOR the House bill.

We’ve been asked to explain why:
The Senate bill is similar to the bill we opposed in 2006. The House bill (H.R. 5889) is the result of a year and a half of closed door negotiations between Congress and representatives and lobbyists for special interest groups. These groups have agreed to either endorse the House bill or remain neutral to insure its passage.

The House bill endorses the concept of coerced “voluntary” registration with commercial databases and seeks to make these databases infringer-friendly.

– It would require infringers to file a simple “notice of use” before they infringe.

– It calls for an archive of the notices to be maintained by the Copyright Office or an approved third party.

Why do backers of the House bill want these databases to be infringer-friendly?
Because to thrive, commercial databases (registries) will have to do a robust business in rights-clearing and orphan certification. That means encouraging infringers to infringe.

How will these registries work? No details have been given, but experience with image banks suggests the following:

For unregistered work: infringers will use the registries to identify pictures that aren’t registered. Infringers will probably pay the registry a search fee, then use or market the “orphans” like royalty-free art.

For registered work: the registries will act as a kind of stock house: Users will go to them for one-stop shopping to clear rights to your pictures. The registry will probably charge you a commission when they do.

In other words, urging Congress to pass the House bill makes very little sense to us unless your business or organization expects to become a commercial registry. We believe the only way to oppose these bills is to oppose them both.

If you agree, now’s the time to write Congress or write again.

You can urge Congress to oppose these bills by linking here to a special letter.
Tell Your Senators and Representatives to Oppose the Orphan Works Act at:
http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/issues/alert/?alertid=11442621

Don’t Let Congress Orphan Your Work

Please forward this message to every artist you know.