My political hat.

I'm going to put on my political hat right now. No, not about the election you can figure that one out for yourself as I feel is your right. No, today we're going to talk about the proposed HR 5889 and S 2913 the new 2008 versions of the Orphan Works acts. Both the House Resolution and the one before the Senate are generally the same. Any work not registered with the copyright registries will be considered an "orphaned work" and can be claimed and used by whoever wants it without paying the creator or even informing them. What does this apply to? Everything. My scrap kits, your family photos on your blog, a short story, a painting they can all be claimed by others if not registered. Now then the new registries won't be run by the copyright office either, they are proposed to be privatized so you will get to pay a bunch of different registries for the same work because if it's not registered at any one of them it can be claimed as orphaned. Who does this help do you ask? Why would they change the current laws? Certainly not the artists, and not the average Joe who could find a family snap shot suddenly in a national publication. Want to read more about these? Look HERE for the full text versions of both acts. Or HERE is a wonderful article that explains it so much better than I ever could along with more links. And finally, want to write to your State Rep or Congressperson? Click HERE to find your State Rep and HERE to find your senators. Or just type either into Google for more info. And now here's a new one for you. Have you heard of the OLPC or One Laptop Per Child foundation? It's to help educate kids around the world but specifically in rural and developing nations by giving them these neat and rugged laptops filled with educational software and wireless internet capabilities. Go to the site and read all about how much good they've done so far and how you can help. Are you going to be like me and start saving up to donate? I think that's all I have on my mind for now, but that may change. LOL! Here's some freebie tips for you as complied by our good buddy Mrs. Miles (aka- Barb.), thanks doll face! Brandy has a kit preview action for download here: http://megadoodleinspired.blogspot.com/ Jenni at Chaos Lounge has a Pretty QP: http://jen-at-chaos-lounge.blogspot.com/ Christina Renee has a little something here: http://www.christinareneedesigns.com/authenticartistry/ MoodeeBeth has some pretty papers: http://members.aol.com/moodeebeth/moodeebeth.html Bonnie from SA has a cute bird freebie here: http://bouncingbonbon.blogspot.com/ Of course Shabby Princess has a new desktop for May here: http://shabbyprincess.typepad.com/shabby_princess/ Kristin CB has two Sunshine QP`s to share: http://www.kristincbdesigns.com/blog/ Trish has a freebie template here: http://templates-n-more.blogspot.com/ Rina Kroes has a 4 x 6 bragbook QP here: http://rinakroes.blogspot.com/ Remember to leave some love and happy scrapping!