Let's say you post an image on the web and someone copies it without your permission. Then someone else finds that image and uses it again. By this point your image is considered to be an "orphaned work." Under current copyright law orphaned works are protected because if you discover an image has been run without permission you are entitled to damages. Brandon Stone of photoblogs.org had something like this happen with one of his images.

But The U.S. Copyright Office is proposing an Orphan Works law proposed that would change the Copyright Act so that someone who wants to use a copyrighted work, but is unable to find the copyright owner after a "reasonable search," could use it without fear of paying damages. The problem with this is "reasonable search" is undefined. A simple google search might be considered reasonable.

As the original owners of images are generally hard find anyone with very little effort could use your images without any fear of damages. In the real world this means that a publication or a company could use your images and instead of being liable for tens of thousands of dollars in damages they would only be liable to pay you whatever their day rate might be (a few hundred dollars at most) and you would have no say over the licensing of your images.

I would suggest dropping your congressperson a line and asking them to oppose changes in the orphaned works bill.

Several protests, counter-protests, and marches which may be of interest to photographers:

Thursday June 29 6:30pm:
46th street and West Side Greenway (in front of the interepid)

Memorial ride for two NYC bikers killed last week with laying of flowers at the site of their deaths.

Friday June 30 7:00pm:
Union Square North

Critical Mass. Plenty of light this time of year. With the recient deaths of several cyclists and the city's ruling that the police must allow the ride to proceede there should be a large crowd.

Friday June 30 6:30:
Senator Clinton's Office (3rd ave & 49th Street)
New Yorkers for Immigration Control and Enforcement (NY ICE) will be protesting Clinton's position on the immigration issue. There will likely be a counter-protest and several progressive political groups have called for action against ICE.

Keep in mind that NYC Photobloggers does not take a political position but given the intense emotional reaction to the immigration issue, this may be a great event for amateur photojournalists to capture the two side of the issue.