What would a US orphan works provision mean for Australian artists and copyright owners?
If an orphan work scheme is introduced in the US, it will affect activities that take place within the US, regardless of where the material was created. This means that someone in the US who wanted to use your work, and could not locate you to get permission, might be able to rely on the orphan works scheme. The legislation would not affect activities taking place in Australia. The legislation (if either of the Bills have been passed) would not have: • allowed anyone to use your work without permission if it were reasonably possible for them to identify and contact you; • allowed anyone to use your work without permission if they contacted you but you refused permission or asked for a higher licence fee than they were prepared to pay; or • required you to register your work in order to protect it. If the House bill had been passed, you could find out whether someone had used your work in reliance on the “orphan works” provision by checking the archive of “Notices of Use” at the US Copy
