Does USPTO’s Orphan Works Report Double Down On Problem?

The USPTO is taken to task by TechDirt editor Mike Masnick for its recent report on so-called orphan works – works that are not available, and for which license-seekers cannot find the copyright holder. The report’s suggestion that potential users of orphan works register with the copyright office is misguided, Masnick argues, because the problem is the result of the PTO’s switch from a system that required registration to get a copyright, to one where everything is automatically covered by copyright. Masnick also sides with the Association of Research Libraries, which criticized the USPTO’s aversion to seeing fair use as a viable solution for orphaned works.