From our friend David Veal at the Graphic Artist's Guild
The Graphic Artists Guild has hired intellectual property attorney Megan E.Gray of the Washington, D.C., firm, Roylance, Abrams, Berdo & Goodman, L.L.P., to represent the Guild as its lobbyist on Capitol Hill to oppose the Orphan Works Bill. In this lobbying effort, Ms.Gray also will be representing the Greeting Card Association and George Little Management, L.L.C., the largest producer and marketer of consumer product tradeshows in North America (major gift shows, National Stationery Show, SURTEX, etc.). She will be working in close cooperation with Lisa Shaftel, the Guild's Advocacy Committee Chair, as well as Vic Perlman, General Counsel of the American Society of Media Photographers, and David Trust, CEO of Professional Photographers of America, to present a unified message from visual creators.
Ms. Gray and Mr. Perlman are working on drafting an alternative version of the Orphan Works Bill that will be acceptable to creators of visual art and, hopefully, to Congress as well. Both House and Senate Judiciary Committees have made it clear to the Guild that they will not drop the Orphan Works Bill altogether and that they intend to pass some form of an amendment to U.S. Copyright Law concerning orphan works.
Megan Gray has represented copyright holders in the fabric and textile, apparel, toy manufacturing, and jewelry industries. Read more about her extensive experience with licensing and infringement cases.
The Guild welcomes any other organizations and trade associations representing artists, artisans, and photographers to join in our lobbying effort against the current Orphan Works Bill. For more information or to express interest in joining the effort, contact the Guild's Administrative Director, Tricia McKiernan, at 212.791.3400, ext 106, or admin@gag.org.
