Great Minds Think Alike

My old National Writers Union friend Mike Bradley has published this letter to the editor at Beyond Chron in response to my piece there yesterday:

"Gee, it's deja vu all all over again. Maybe because Irvin Muchnick and I agree so often, I think he is brilliant. Licensing agencies ARE the only sufficient solution. When I drafted the statement of the National Writers Union on orphan works, that was its principal point. I think I might have added that failure to register a new work with a licensing agency could prevent the rightsholder from claiming damages for infringement, but (a) how would that jibe with international IP agreements and (b) that sort of requirement couldn't be imposed on past works. So what is the solution for past works? Maybe, once registries are in place, a five-year period during which rightsholders can register their past works and no one may use them without agreement. Then, the new regime kicks in."