I was accused of passing along information that wasn't real, that this isn't a real issue, that it is all made up and a lie.
However, I have further researched the Orphaned Works Bill of 2008 and have found that it is entirely true.

While there may have been an Orphaned Works Bill back in 2006 that was abolished, there really is a new bill of the same name for 2008.

Those of you who accused me of ignorance obviously didn't listen to the interview I posted a link to. The interview is dated April 5, 2008. This is not old news, this is new news. The only mistake I made was to quote the article that asked everyone to write to your legislatures and congressmen right now!

According to [link]
(And this is their newest update from two days ago, April 22, 2008,) the Bill for 2008 has not yet been presented but is supposed to be presented this week. In the interview that some of you ignored, they ask that we refrain from writing just yet because anything that is received before the bill is actually presented will be ignored.

However, we need to be preparing ourselves with the information of who we will be writing to, how best to do our part in fighting this issue, and keeping updated so we can act as soon as the bill is out.

(Also, according to the interview, the states who will have the most sway in this issue are California, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, and possibly New York. So please, if you live in these states, find out who your congress men and senators are, because they will have the most power to fight this atrocity.)

To keep posted on this issue go to [link] or e-mail illustratorspartnership@cnymail.com and ask to have your name added to the list to receive e-mail updates on the Orphaned Works Bill of 2008.

I want you all to know that I've read material from the opposing side about this, and their only argument, (which is covered in the interview) is that this bill is only meant to free up old works who's creators are dead. However, this bill does not only effect old works, it effects all works.
It basically tells you that anything you have created or will create is public domain, unless you go out and pay to claim it as your own. Think of how much art you've already created!

I haven't even begun to make a living from my art, but I've spent at least five years and a load of my own money to get a degree so I can begin to make money from my art. If this bill is what the last one was, it will make all my time and money spent completely obsolete.

I'm not an expert on copyright law. I admit that I'm guilty of apathy just like I think a lot of artists probably are . . . I haven't wanted to worry about these kinds of things, but do we want to be forced to worry about these things? I would think not.

If you still don't believe me, I suggest you look up the author of the bill, Peter Jaszi. He is an academic Marxist who believes that somehow authorship has been highly overvalued over the years and that it is the community who creates your work and therefore the rights of all works should belong to the masses.

Seriously, no one is allowed to reply to me about this again, unless they've listened to the interview. [link]
If you refuse to listen to the facts, then keep your denial of reality to yourself.

In an effort to end on a positive note, I'd like to thank all of those who helped me research this issue, especially Shawna J. C. Tenny who is an amazing and successful illustrator and Elizabeth Dedow who has chosen to do a TON of research on this and is writing her term paper on the issue.