Orphan Works Bill......PLEASE......read on to PROTECT your ART!

Calling all artists, designers, photographers, creators of intellectual property...

This bill affects EVERYONE...whether you create yourself or enjoy the creative efforts of others. PLEASE, take 10 minutes of your day and fax your elected officials, tell them they MUST VOTE AGAINST the orphan works bills. THIS MUST BE DONE BY WEDNESDAY!!! PLEASE HELP!!!!

Late last week, both the U.S. House of Representative and the U.S. Senate introduced two versions of the orphan works bill. Both the Senate version, S.2913, and the House version, H.R.5889 are very similar in nature and closely mirror the Orphan Works Act of 2006. WE NEED TO STOP THIS. PLEASE CONTACT YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES IMMEDIATELY! WE MUST BE HEARD.

If we do not stop BOTH Orphan Works Bills NOW-It does not matter that you created it.It does not matter that you have a copyright mark on it.It does not matter that it is registered in the Library of Congress.It does not matter that you signed it.It does not matter that you put a big fat watermark across it.It does not matter that you put digital signatures on it.It does not matter if you get a lawyer- you will get a pittance determined by the offending company and no reimbursement for legal fees.It does not matter even if you do as they demand and pay to register it in the new registries that they will form - there is no real punishment for using your work for profit.It does not matter that you do not want your image used on a product or to promote an agenda.They can even sell your prints and make money!
Many of you have heard of the Orphan Works bill that was fought over the past couple years by SCBWI, GAG, the Illustrators Partnership, etc. Well, this past week, the Orphan Works bill was reformatted and is currently being catapulted through both the Senate and House at lightening speed. If passed in their current forms, the repercussions from these bills will adversely affect every single SCBWI member…whether writer, illustrator, manufacturer or publisher. In a nutshell, the bills will create a huge loophole for anyone that chooses to reproduce or use copyrighted materials in any way they choose (including for profit). At the same time, it also removes all current legal punishment for copyright infringement by removing damage and legal fee awards for those whose works are infringed or stolen.

Artists who have registered their work with the U.S. Copyright office will no longer be protected. Manufacturers with in-house staff or who have purchased art as wfh and subsequently registered those images will also no longer be protected. Nor will photographers, publishers, or basically any form of creative expression that can be copyrighted.

In our current economic climate and controversies about politics and war, Congressional leaders have much more to worry about than this “little” bill. And that is exactly why it is being timed like this….to “piggyback” through on the tails of something more important. The timing by the bill’s supporters is impeccable. And that’s why we need to be equally as diligent.

This information below is extremely important and must be followed through immediately. This also needs to be brought to the attention of the leadership (and members) of every single professional organization (from GAG to SCBWI and beyond) that will be affected by this. The urgency to act immediately is real because these bills are being rushed through VERY quickly. If they are passed, every person or company that depends on copyright ownership of intellectual property will lose.

If you want to hear an interview that goes into more depth about the bills as well as more information about the impact they will have on ALL creatives, please go to this link……
http://www.sellyourtvconceptnow.com/orphan.html

Also you can visit any number of other professional organization sites such as Graphic Artists’ Guild www.gag.org or Illustrators Partnership www.illustratorspartnership.org . These are both creative advocacy organizations dedicated to protecting the rights of artists and are experts in this issue.
Visit this specific link for more on the very latest: http://www.illustratorspartnership.org/01_topics/article.php?searchterm=00265

Find your representative:http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

1. Call the representative and say I oppose this (You'll get someone who works for your representative and they will log your address and your pro/con feedback.)
2. email your representative
3. Overnight or priority mail a snail mail letter
4. Fax a letterGet as many signatures as possible on the paper copies.

Do all 4 steps if you want to be heard!There is a small window of time to voice your oppositionusually the best time to act is in the 48 hours following the release of the bill number!

Let others know so this bill can be stopped! And we can protect our ART!

Are you ready to go GREEN?

It is something all of us should do and a good way to start is to re-make the things around us. Take those jeans that are too small for your kids and make a purse, got a stain on your favorite tee-shirt.....stamp a design on it, re-style those shoes from last year with crystals. All of these are easy to do and you can find all sorts of inspiration in each and every issue of Make it Mine Magazine and on the web site http://www.makeitminemag.com/. Consider what going GREEN can do for you......Pictured here is a pair of jeans that have been re-styled with Iron-On Metallic Kreinik Thread (http://www.kreinik.com/) for the flowers, lace in the pockets and trim down the side of the legs. All of which was fun and easy to do.


Give GREEN a try and find out what styles are in store for you. If we each do our part think what can happen!

ALTERED TECHNIQUES 101 is going GREAT!

Here is what one student had to say about my Atlered Techniques 101 Class:

Hi, I am Marthe from Norway!! I have been doing mailart and related stuff, for the past 7 years, but I am still learning every day. And I am loving it.
Thanks Ann, for offering this class...I have to say I had to think abit before I joined, because I thought the price was stiffer than the other courses here.
Well now that I have access to the course, I can understand why!It's the best designed online course I have ever seen, really thourough and totally worth it!! I do not regret for joining.
And the way we are supposed to create a reference book, oh thats a great idea, I never thought about that! I will work on that tomorrow, it's my day off.
Anyway I am so glad to be here, and looking forward to do this with you all!

Be sure to check it out at: www.mycreativeclassroom.com
The class has already started but it is not to late to enroll......I am teaching 5 techniques a week for 5 weeks; a total of 25 techniques.

REMEMBER......TOMORROW I am teaching a FREE CLASS

Just a reminder that tomorrow I am teaching a FREE CLASS at My Creative Classroom (www.mycreativeclassroom.com) called "Altered Book Basics - Where to Start" This is a one session class and will give you a feel for what Altered Books are all about. Be sure to check it out!

The Winner Is......

Sorry for being a day late in posting the winner of the two ATC's......while I was on a family vacation, I had brought my laptop with me because the hotel had internet access.....to my surprise there was no charge for this; I usually have to pay a daily rate at hotels for internet.......now I know why! While this was free internet it was also totally unsecure, when I got home I kept getting pop up windows every few minutes, which bogged down my computer and made it slower than usual.....I had a program on my computer for security and to stop this but it did not work. I tried several other things and finally bought a program yesterday where a technician can get into my computer through the internet and clean the entire thing out. This took until 4:30 this morning to complete....my computer seems to be running faster and as yet today I have not seen one pop up....yeah!

Now back to the WINNER of the 2 ATC's I was giving away. I put all the names into a hat and pulled out the name of Mary B......

I will do another contest in the month of May so be sure and check back for what will be given away!

Make it Mine Magazine Web Site......check it out!

Make It Mine Magazine is an wonderful magazine that is filled with awesome techniques and projects that can be used to embellish your clothes, accessories and home..........but did you know that if you check out their web site (www.makeitminemag.com) they give you even more.........they have great videos for you to watch and learn techniques, an editor's blog, reader's gallery and more......check out this great site and be inspired to learn a new technique and order the magazine that is always filled with wonderful projects!

Free Class at MCC

Be sure to check out My Creative Classroom (www.mycreativeclassroom.com) for the Altered Book Basics - Where to Start - Free Class I will be teaching on April 11th. This is a one session class and will give you just a feel for what Altered Books are all about.