THE SIMPSONS NEWS

On Monday I got an e-mail from one of our Simpsons producers telling us that the actors signed their new contract. We were informed that the rest of the day, they were going to begin figuring out a schedule for the shows in order to have some idea for our start dates. That’s really good news for us. Hurray! Although, I don’t expect to be back to work until sometime in late July early August. We were told, before our hiatus, that we were to expect to come back a month after the writers signed. Although, because the shows start up about two to three weeks from each other, not everyone will be coming back at once.

ROLE PLAYING GAMES

So I was listening to The Daily Breakfast #492 last Tuesday, and I heard myself there because I left a voice message, earlier in the week. I had called to say something about Role Playing games based on a comment from another caller. I really didn’t think much about it until I heard what happened next. It went something like this:

Yeah, so now that I opened my big fat mouth, I thought I should write a little about some Role Playing Game systems in case people have decided to come to my blog because of what I said.

Here’s a small list of the games I own. Hopefully this will give you an idea of the games that are out there. I’ll give you the name of the game or game system and a description of it. I will also put Pros and Cons for each one when I could. If it’s a games system I will put the games that can be played with it. A Game System is a generic system of rules that could be used to play just about any game genre. Some are better and more versatile than others.

Okay, lets begin…

THE HERO SYSTEM:

This was my favorite system, mostly because I was able to make superheroes with it.

PROS: Very, very versatile. You could play just about anything you want with it. You can play Star Wars in it, if your willing to put the time into creating the Star Wars universe from scratch. You can play Pulp, Fantasy, Sci-fi…you name it, you can play it in this system.

CONS: Very complicated. Character creation takes a very long time. If fighting occurs the game begins to get very sloooow. It has no ‘official setting’ which means you have to create everything from scratch. This involves a lot of work and it means that you won’t actually be playing a game right away. Someone will have to sit down and create the setting. (This may not be a con if you love doing that sort of thing anyway).

HERO SYSTEM GAMES I OWN:

· CHAMPIONS: Superheroes

· PULP HERO: Like Indiana Jones…

· FANTASY HERO: Any kind of Fantasy setting you can think of.

· STARHERO: Any kind of science fiction space genres.

MUTANTS & MASTERMINDS:

My new favorite system for playing superheroes. This game (unlike HERO) is only a system to play superheroes games. It uses a very heavily modified D20 3.5 system. So heavily modified, that its now its own system. This system is very much like the HERO system Champions game only a lot easier.

PROS: The system is easy and fast. The artwork in the game is great. If you like superheroes, this is the game to play. You can make Jedi with this system. You might be able to use this system for anything you want.

CONS: To be very honest, I can’t think of any right now. If I do, I’ll but them in.

SAVAGE WORLDS:

This is my second favorite system. It’s lighter than Hero system and almost as versatile. It’s a little like the D20 3.5 system only easier.

PROS: Not very complicated. Easy for beginners to use so it’s a great starter role playing game. Character creation takes fifteen minutes. Quick combat mechanics. Has some official settings.

CONS: Not as versatile as Hero system. (in other words you wouldn’t be able to make Superheroes or Jedi using this system). Otherwise good system. If you want to play a game outside of some of the official settings it has the same world building problem as Hero System.

SAVAGE WORLDS GAMES:

· DEADLANDS: This game seems like a very interesting wild west game with fantasy and horror elements. Some of the mechanics of the game require using Poker cards.

(Here is the official description of the game):

Welcome to the Weird West!

The year is 1879, but the history is not our own. The guns of the Civil War are silent thanks to a tense cease fire between North and South. California is shattered by the Great Quake of ྀ, a new superfuel called ghost rock is revealed in the flooded channels and buried in the cliff faces that loom above. Powerful Rail Barons strive to be the first to complete a transcontinental railroad, and the Great Rail Wars exact a bloody toll on an American frontier divided between not only the Union and Confederacy, but the Sioux Nation, the Mormon state of Deseret, and the Independent Commonwealth of California.

Amid the chaos, fortunes can be made by those bold enough to make their way West. These brave souls have more than plain old human violence to contend with. Something’s going on in the West, something downright nasty. Fear stalks the land like a hungry beast, and abominations from man’s myths and nightmares haunt the High Plains. Legends tell of ancient and powerful beings that thrive on the fear created by these horrific creatures. All around, the night grows darker and the shadows grow longer as evil twists the land.

Arrayed against the forces of darkness are the heroes of the Weird West: Grim gunslingers, spell slinging hucksters, brilliant mad scientists, and wizened Indian shamans stake their souls and fortunes on the battle against the evils of the frontier, and often lay down their very lives for the cause of righteousness and light. And sometimes, death is not the end.

D20 3.5 SYSTEM:

This is the most popular system out there. Wizard of the Coast owns it (they make Magic the Gathering collectible card game) and it’s an open game license, which means anyone can make and sell a game using the rule system . It’s famous because Dungeons and Dragons and Star Wars RPG used it. Now both Star Wars and Dungeons and Dragons have their own separate systems. The Star Wars game is: Star Wars Saga Edition. The new Dungeons and Dragons game is: Dungeons and Dragons 4^th Edition. I don’t own either of these systems, so I really can’t comment upon them.

PROS: Not too complicated. Easy for beginners to use but a bit “crunchy” (rules heavy) it’s a good starter role playing game. It’s everywhere. Lots of games use the system. Fights are moderate in length. Lots of resources out for it. Great to play ‘Hack and Slash’ games with. You could play Paranoia with it!

CONS: It’s a bit shallow. Not very customizable. It’s very limiting in the type of characters you can make. It almost forces you to make stereotype characters rather that deep ‘real’ characters. It’s more a miniatures game than a role-playing game. Too heavy an emphasis on fighting and very little on character development.

D20 3.5 GAMES:

(I will limit this list to the games I own.)

· D&D 3.5: Dungeons and Dragons is the game everyone thinks of when they think RPGs. I thinks it’s fun to play if all you want to do is “hack and slash” monsters but it you want a deeper fantasy experience then there are other games that work better. This game tends to pigeon hole you into making very limited character types.

· CONAN: I ain’t talking lame Arnold Schwarzenegger Conan here, I’m talking Robert E. Howard’s Conan. From the books. This game is interesting because you don’t play as Conan but you play in the world of Conan which is as interesting as Tolkien’s Middle Earth. One of the things I found interesting, is that in order to do magic, in the world of Conan you have to, in some way, sell a little of your soul. The more magic you learn the more of yourself you lose. Very interesting.

(Here is the official description of the game):

‘Know, o prince, that between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities, and the years of the rise of the Sons of Aryas, there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars – Nemedia, Ophir, Brythunia, Hyberborea, Zamora with its dark-haired women and towers of spider-haunted mystery, Zingara with its chivalry, Koth that bordered on the pastoral lands of Shem, Stygia with its shadow-guarded tombs, Hyrkania whose riders wore steel and silk and gold. But the proudest kingdom of the world was Aquilonia, reigning supreme in the dreaming west. Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandaled feet.’

The golden age of fantasy is brought back to gaming as Conan and Hyboria stride into the realms of gaming once again. This 352-page, lavishly illustrated full-colour book realizes the world of Conan as never before.

Exhaustively researched, Conan The Roleplaying Game features new innovations to ensure combat, magic, character creation and development reflect the epic writings of Robert E. Howard. From the shores of the Western Ocean, to the Sea of Vilayet, the countries of Hyboria are explored, detailed and illustrated. The cultures, religions, traditions, legends and more are all explored to ensure this is the most definitive Conan roleplaying game of all time. This complete roleplaying game lets players and Games Masters alike step into the world of the greatest fantasy hero of all time and shake the world of Hyboria.

· TESTAMENT: This is a game where you play during the age of the Old Testament. I bought this because I was curious. It’s an interesting game. It might be interesting to play this as a political game. Problem with this book is that it was originally written for D20 3.0 not 3.5. But it’s not too big a deal to modify it to 3.5.

(Here is the official description of the game):

You’ve Read The Book, Now Play The Game!

There were giants in the Earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in onto the daughters of men and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
—The Book of Genesis

The world of the Bible comes to life in this campaign setting for the d20 System. Play a wandering Babylonian magus, a sorcerer in the service of Pharaoh, a Canaanite maker of idols, or a prophet of the God of Israel. Walk the streets of ancient Jerusalem, stand beside King David as one of his Mighty Men, smite Philistines, ponder the mysteries of gargantuan tombs, look upon the dwellings of the gods, and battle demons, dragons, plagues, and the legendary beasts of Babylon. Testament gives you everything you need to immerse yourself in the Biblical Era, including:

• A dozen new core and prestige classes, including the Levite Priest, the Egyptian Khery-heb wizard, and the Desert Hermit.
• Over 30 new monsters, including Nephilim, Tempter Devils, and Zebub-Spawn.
• Over 50 new feats and over 100 new spells.
• Rules for barter, curses, piety.
• Guidelines for leading a small tribe through the hazards of the Bronze and Iron Age world.
• The Biblical Battlefield Resolution System, a new way to fight epic combats.
• Full cultural details on ancient Israel, Canaan, Egypt, and Mesopotamia, including history, beliefs, holy days, architecture, and more.
• Dozens of new magic items and artifacts.

Part history, part mythology, Testament is the d20 System setting that’s both instantly familiar and yet unlike any game world you have ever experienced.

· PARANOIA: Yay Paranoia! One of the games most ideally suited for Play By e-mail games. Its a slapstick comedic game about about stabbing other players in the back and being the only one left alive by the end of the game. You play a person who lives in a world controlled by an evil computer. Everyone is out to destroy it and it knows it. You happen to work for it and your job is to find the people who want to destroy the computer and terminate them. Thing is, you want to destroy the computer also. You are part of a team that hunts down rebels but you and everyone else on the team are rebels also, the problem is that everyone is from a rival rebel faction and they are out for themselves. If you manage to prove to the computer that the other people on your team are rebels you will get great rewards, but the others are thinking the same thing. Your job is to complete whatever task that computer has given your team to do while also doing the secret task your rebel faction has given you to do and at the same time try to incriminate and execute your fellow team mates, but watch out. Just because you kill one of them doesn’t mean he won’t be back after being downloaded into a new clone body looking for payback. Fun.

(Here is the official description of the game):

TRUST THE COMPUTER! THE COMPUTER IS YOUR FRIEND!

Greetings, citizen! THE COMPUTER has made you a TROUBLESHOOTER, a protector of the underground city of ALPHA COMPLEX. You and your fellow Troubleshooters will have lots of fun rooting out Communist mutant traitors. The Computer says so.

Members of treasonous secret societies like the Frankenstein Destroyers, the Illuminati, Psion, PURGE and the Sierra Club may attack, maim or blackmail you. Treasonous mutants with powers like Electroshock, Pyrokinesis, Charm, Puppeteer and Bureaucratic Intuition may shock you, incinerate you, subvert you, control you or bury you in paperwork. But it will be fun. The Computer says so, and The Computer is your friend.

Most fun of all is uncovering your fellow Troubleshooters’ secret societies and mutations, accusing them of treason and persuading The Computer to terminate them — before they do the same to you.

PARANOIA: The Roleplaying Game of a Darkly Humorous Future

Pursuant to Central Processing Unit directive 214.08.20/547.4 ‘Restoration of Classic RPGs to Print After Unduly Prolonged Absence,’ Mongoose Publishing brings you PARANOIA, an entirely new edition of the classic science fiction game originally published in 1984. In service to a well-meaning but deranged Computer, you and your fellow players seek to eliminate traitors. Your deepest fear: Your fellow players will discover YOU are one of those traitors.

PARANOIA: A light-hearted game of backstabbing, treachery and guile, where trusting other players is a sure route to the termination centre.
PARANOIA IS FUN. OTHER GAMES ARE NOT FUN. THE COMPUTER SAYS SO, THE COMPUTER IS YOUR FRIEND.

WORLD OF DARKNESS:

Okay, first, all the games I put here are out of print and have been replaced by the new World of Darkness system. The only reason I’m putting them here at all is to just to have them represented. The new World of Darkness games are just updated versions of the ones below, so you’ll still get the idea of what your getting into by reading this. There are also far more of them than the ones I’ve written about. I just don’t own them.

This system has a lot of good creative ideas. The problem with it is mostly the tone and theme. Most of these games mostly revolve around playing a monster of some kind and all the horror that comes with it. It is a Role playing Game system of “personal horror”. So if you want a game to take you to a place like that, this might interest you, otherwise don’t bother.

PROS: Many official game worlds. Very character driven story system. Simple system. Lends itself to deep story driven games. Lots of atmosphere, lots of drama, very rich world.

CONS: Not a versatile system. You can only play in official game worlds. The mood of the game is sometimes too oppressive. Some of the game worlds are better than others. You really have to be in the mood to play these games. They are very moody.

WORLD OF DARKNESS GAMES:

· VAMPIRE THE MASQUERADE: You begin the game as a human who somehow ends up becoming a vampire. This is a game about either fighting to keep your humanity in spite of the fact you’re monster or embracing your inner demon. Lots of politics, intrigue and drama.

· DARK AGE VAMPIRE: Similar to VAMPIRE THE MASQUERADE but set in the Middle Ages.

· MAGE THE ASSENTION: Is perhaps the most intriguing of the bunch. You play a person who suddenly “awakens” to a magical power you didn’t know you had. It’s a game about seeing the world from a new perspective. Magik in this game is a world view shift (there is no spoon). Reality as we know is actually a philosophical perception given to us by a group of wizards. Technology is a type of magik but we don’t see it that way because it is the norm. Other Magicians have different world views. If you learn them you can do different magik. For example, the world view that sees space as two dimensional rather than three could be used to teleport you from one place to another simply by changing the two dimensional picture that is before you. It’s a very creative game. Lots of drama and intrigue. It sounds a little like the Matrix movies. The thing is, this game was out long before the Matrix came out.

· RAGE: You play as a werewolf in this game. It’s pretty much the “I want to fight a lot in my role playing game” game in the World of Darkness universe.

· WRAITH: You play as dead person in a dark limbo like place (notice I didn’t say Purgatory). It’s a pretty oppressive game.

· CHANGELING: The most lighthearted of the World of Darkness System. It takes place in modern times and you play a fairy that has replace a human baby when you yourself were a baby and no one knows. It’s very fantastic. The new version of this game is far darker and I personally think it sounds like a lot of fun.

CHAOSIUM: Only has one truly great game.

· CALL OF CTHULU: If you’re a fan of H.P. Lovecraft, this is the game for you. It takes place in the world he invented. This game is a game the player characters aren’t meant to live through. In this game players play some sort of investigators that gets entangled in the hidden TRUE world according to Lovecraft. The truth you find will lead you to see horrors that, if they don’t kill you, they will surely drive you mad. (Think, Hellboy, Evil Dead 2, Army of Darkness, Re-animator.) This game uses a percentage dice system. There is a d20 version of this game but it’s not as good.

INDEPENDENT GAMES:

Independent games don’t have a generic system that applies to a bunch of games. They tend to be one shot games with their own rules specific to each individual game.

INDIE GAMES:

· DOGS IN THE VINEYARD: This game is one of the coolest games ever. The game is set in “a West that never quite was” – loosely based on the Mormon State of Deseret in pre-statehood Utah. Players are “God’s Watchdogs” (Dogs), who travel from town to town delivering mail, helping out the community and enforcing the judgments of the True Faith of the King of Life. This may involve anything from delivering new interpretations to the town’s Steward to executing heretics. Dogs have absolute authority within the Faith, but not within the laws of the Territorial Authority, and so their actions can lead to conflict with the government in the East. This game is all about internal conflicts and external conflicts. As a Catholic I like this game because it has a way to play out moral conflicts in an amazing and fun way. It uses an unusual form of conflict resolution, where die rolls are used in poker-style bids. It’s darn innovative. Especially since it makes conflicts far more creative than they would be otherwise and very very personal. It can also be customized to play out Catholic priests, monks or Knights in the middle ages or, if you want, in the modern age. It’s great. Here’s the official description for the game:

You stand between God’s law and the best intentions of the weak.

You stand between God’s people and their own demons.

Sometimes it’s better for one to die than for many to suffer. Sometimes, Dog, sometimes you have to cut off the arm to save the life.

Does the sinner deserve mercy?
Do the wicked deserve judgement?

They’re in your hands.

Dogs in the Vineyard: roleplaying God’s Watchdogs in a West that never quite was.

· THE PRINCES’ KINGDOM: This is basically, Dogs in the Vineyard for kids. Instead of “God’s Dogs” You play as young princes that have been sent off into the world by your father the king in order to learn to rule the kingdom justly. So you go from town to town setting things right and attempting to solve any problems you come across within your kingdom. It uses a more simplified (kid friendly) Dogs in the Vineyard, mechanic. Here’s the flavor text of the game:

You are nine years old! You just had a birthday, and your brothers gave you a puppy. The three of you are seeing the world from your very own boat. You are the sons of the King of Islandia!

And you are the only three that can stop the war.

The Princes’ Kingdom is a game about children, adults, and ideals.

· BURNING WHEEL: This game has a system to solve debates with other characters called “duel of wits” and the fighting system is very unique. If you want to play a game of Lord of the Rings, this is the system to do it in. It’s a very interesting system over all but I think it’s also a very “advanced” system. A little bit of Role Playing experience my help to play this game.

· POLARIS: In a word, “brilliant”. This game is amazing. No Game Master needed to play this game. All you need is four people and a fantastic imagination. This game takes place at the end of a civilization of magical people who live in the North Pole as the coming of the Sun approaches. The game is meant to be a bitter sweet tragedy, about how deep dark mistakes in the heroes lives and civilization is causing the death of their civilization at the hands of demonic monsters that are approaching ever closer. The game system is like nothing out there. If I was to write down how it’s different, I would be here far too long. I can’t recommend this game enough. Here the official flavor text:

Once upon a time, as far north as north can go, there lived the greatest people that this world will ever see. They are gone now, destroyed just as the world destroys all beautiful things. All that remains are these moments we call memories, moments frozen from the flow of time.

Polaris: Chivalric Tragedy at Utmost North is a game for three to five players set during the final years of the Northernmost People, just before the remnants of their civilization were swallowed up by their own Mistake.

The protagonists of the story are Knights of the Order of the Stars, beholden by ancient oaths to serve the stars and protect their people. The antagonists facing the knights are multitudinous — demons from the mistake, doubters from the people, and even betrayers within the brotherhood of Knights.

Polaris uses a set of simple and easy-to-learn mechanics to help guide your game’s storyline to an appropriate tragic ending. Each player at the table guides the protagonist in a different capacity, and the central points of the story are further shaped by the twelve Key Phrases.

This is no longer a history; this is not yet a story. This is all that remains. Whatever else is what you make of it.

· HERO’S BANNER: This game is another that is uniquely suited for playing online. It’s short and the characters only have three stats. Once one of the stats reaches 100 the character’s life path is sealed and he dies. The end. How interesting and dramatic the person’s life was when he dies in determined by how well you play the game.

(Here is the official description of the game):

Great heros walk the land. They alone have the power to lead their people to a better life.

But there was a time before these men and women were remembered for their deeds.

The fate of a kingdom lies in your hands and you must choose a path to glory.

What cause will you fight for? Who will you leave behind? How will you be remembered?

Hero’s Banner: The Fury of Free Will is a fantasy roleplaying game about making life choices in a world filled with expectation. Your character consists, primarily, of three “influences,” or possible life callings. These might include anything from choosing to marry for love instead of political gain to choosing the life of a soldier over that of a courtly diplomat. Whatever the character is struggling with, he spends his time forming alliances and developing other connections to each influence. But with choice comes loss. As your character slowly progresses towards an inevitable end he will lose friends and ability along the way. The more he specializes, the better he becomes, but also the more he must give up. And eventually, he will have to abandon two of his influences altogether—making one final choice.

· SHADOW OF YESTERDAY: This game is Noir meets fantasy. It’s a grim and gritty fantasy setting that revolves around the characters ambitions.

(Here is the official description of the game):

The Shadow of Yesterday is a pulpy, sweaty role-playing game set in a world climbing back from the edge of destruction, filled with adventure, love, poison, sex, and true friendship. Inside you’ll find:

• How to make a character who advances for player-chosen reasons.
• Goblins that change their shape at will, and find their form through love.
• Broken lands at war, rich swamps full of poisoners and slavers, and a decimated people with incredible magic.
• Jungle-dwelling kayakers who have mastered the world of the dead.

If you’re ready to plunge into truly bizarre, fully human fantasy, you’re ready to play The Shadow of Yesterday. This game is recommended for ages 18 and up.

· UNIVERSALIS: This game is perhaps the only one that isn’t actually a role-playing game. It’s a story making game. Everyone gets a certain amount of coins or ‘points’ every ‘scene’. Before the ‘scene’ begins everyone bids to see who will set the ‘scene’ up. That person uses the coins or ‘points’ to buy story ideas. As the ‘scene’ goes on, everyone else who has ideas can put them in by buying them using their coins. As coins run out players can get new coins by introducing conflict into the story. Conflicts are resolved using dice. The person who wins the conflict not only gets coins back but wins the privilege of not only saying what happens but how it happens. The tension and drama of the game comes when the players have different ideas of the direction the story should take. Because of this the group as a whole doesn’t really know what will happen next and the results are always surprising.

COPYRIGHT PROTECTIONS

Here’s an update on the Orphan Works bill:

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.

And here’s how his Bill will effect non artists:

 

FROM THE ILLUSTRATORS’ PARTNERSHIP

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:

http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/issues/alert/?alertid=11442621

Please forward this message to every artist you know.

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