Quote:
Originally Posted by Hellmark
Works that are unknown who the owner is, can be used for a standard fee or given percentage of sales (which ever is more), with all the money being saved for the copyright owner.... If no owner is found before the copyrights expire, any money in holding for them is then turned over...
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So... this money should be held in escrow for over 120 years, for the possible case of a mid-twenties author with a long life ahead of him? I think it's a bit unreasonable to arrange a business plan that way.
I also think copyright lengths are ridiculous, and it needs to move back to less than 50 years after publication. But that's an entirely different debate; the orphan works rules need to start working with copyright law as it exists now, not as it would be if it were more reasonable and useful.