I've had a lot of people note me about this, some in support, some to inform me that it was a hoax, some to say "this is over and done with and you shouldn't be causing so much stress in the community."

None of which are the point.

The point is, yes this happened a few years ago. It was turned down. But the fact is that it's still floating around out there. There are still laws, still people who would like to change things, and make it harder for artists to make a living. There are companies who try to use your work for free, people who think nothing of using your work without credit.

The only way to combat this is awareness and education. Saying "It's over, don't think about it" is only shutting up people when what we need to do is talk. We need to talk to each other about ways to protect our rights, ways to make sure that credits stay where they belong, that licensing is respected, that art theft is no longer more common than shoplifting. We need to be talking to our parents and children, our students and teachers, our friends our congressmen, about the challenges we face as artists when it comes to protecting our rights.

This isn't JUST about the Orphaned Works thing. This is more important, bigger than that. If it's not current, it doesn't mean that it won't ever come up again--IT WILL. And if we're not on the lookout for it, if we're not paying attention to what the lawmakers are doing or the big companies, someday it'll go through and by the time we find out it will be too late. Why did it take TWO YEARS for this to come to the attention of deviantARTISTS en masse? Think about that.

I'm not, and never was advocating drastic measures. What I want is for people to be aware of their rights, to talk to others about them. I'm overwhelmed by the response this received, but I'll tell you right now I wish it wasn't one of the most popular things in my gallery. I wish I didn't even feel the need to make it. I wish it were unnecessary.

All I ask is that--regardless of whether the issue of Orphaned Works is a current or past threat--that you take the time to think about whether there would even BE orphaned works to be concerned about if we all took steps to ensure that our work was protected and properly marked and credited, if we made sure that other people were aware of copyright laws and how they apply to things like family photographs, children's drawings, research papers, letters, etc. How much art theft would there be if everyone was aware that it was wrong?

Because I think that education is still the biggest issue here, I'm leaving up the link list on the Orphaned Works bill. Read it yourself, make informed decisions, educate.

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I've always believed that the absolute best way to combat art theft, copyright infringement, and ignorance is EDUCATION.

I created this to raise awareness and provide a place for people to start talking about these things. Feel free to download it and print it yourself. Link to it, use it as a thumbnail in your journals or blogs. Use it as a talking point to start a conversation about copyrights, about orphaned works, about artist's rights. Same rules apply though: No changing it, and please make sure my name stays on it, or that it's properly credited. No commercial use.

Oh, and one other thing, since someone has already asked. The characters in the painting are from an older painting of mine. One that's been stolen a couple of times and used without permission. The characters in "The Goblin Gang" (which can be found elsewhere in my gallery) are ruffians, but not orphans. I'm quite proud to be their mother and I'm not disowning them anytime soon.