Everyone remember the up roar DA was in near the beginning of the year? Remember how many people were stating that it was old news and that people were blowing things out of proportion?

Because the fires were put out most people most people missed when the bills were written and submitted. I admit that when the news originally came out there was people who were ill informed and were debating on old information from 2006. However, the issue was brought up with the effect to keep us aware of what was being proposed in 2008. On April 24 2008 (just after the community calmed down) the proposed bill was publish for both the Senate S.2913 and Congress H.R.5889.

An article that compares the bill from current to 2006 is readable here: Orpahn Works Bill 2008 bill comparison.

The bill didn't just slip by the community it slipped by the Senate as well:

"On the evening of Friday September 26th, S. 2913 was passed by the U.S. Senate by unanimous consent, i.e. not a single Senator objected to the legislation."

Not a single Senator objected? The reason behind this is what the bill passed the US Senate by what is called "hotlining."

"In order for a bill to be hotlined, the Senate Majority Leader and Minority Leader must agree to pass it by unanimous consent, without a roll-call vote. The two leaders then inform Members of this agreement using special hotlines installed in each office and give Members a specified amount of time to object — in some cases as little as 15 minutes. If no objection is registered, the bill is passed."

To read more about what Hotlining a bill is please read here: U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions' explanation.

Basically the bill passed with no roll call and not a guarantee that even half of the Senate had even read the bill.

To read more about what happened on Friday please go here: The Illustrators Guild Blog
To read more on the Orphan Works Bill and history go here: Orphan Works.Net

I will not post my opinion here about anything just yet. I am merely trying to bring in an awareness and provide as much information as I stumble upon. I personally have not fully read the bill as of yet and do not know the difference in content from the 2006 version, but be aware that now the bill is in Congress and if it passes there the is only one last step before it passes as an official bill.

This is certainly not time to panic and just go by the rumor mill. Please inform yourself well and read the bills. If you disagree with the bill there are ways to stop it. The Illustrator's guild offers a way to do it for you (by clicking here: [link] ) but you don't have to use their method and can contact your own Congressman.

P.S. The title is just to catch people's attention. The bill has not yet fully passed by US standards. Remember that a bill must first pass through the Senate, then Congress, and finally the President before becoming official.

News article that you can go to discuss things here on DA: [link]