"Until you do what you believe in, how do you know whether you believe in it or not?" -Leo Tolstoy





If you don't don't who Ollie Johnston...first think about any Disney animated feature you actually enjoyed...He was probably involved. If you want more info google him.

I have to admit I'm a bit conflicted on this. Based on some of the questionable racist materials that subtly found their way into Disney films of that era as well as Warner Bros. Productions that some of the "9 Old Men" worked on it can be hard for me not to think some guys may have been racist while assuming they weren't. Having said that I never met any of them, so I give them the benefit of the doubt just based on the fact that most artists just as a matter of thought process refuse to be or remain actively ignorant.


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After some additional research SURPRISE, SURPRISE a Republican congressmen, from Texas no less (Bush understudy?), is at the center of the "Orphan Works" Act today as he was in 2006. His name is LAMAR SMITH....check him out. Google him.



A friend phrased it well, IMO, when he said of "Orphan Works"

"Attack of the talentless..."

A few more links:

While the AWN article is reaching scads of new artists that were unaware of the "Orphan Works" Act others have been fighting the battle since it's inception.
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More Info:

Even Democrats will sell out artists

You'd like to think that democrats would have your back, but you also know that there has to be bipartisan support to attempt to get these ridiculous ideas passed into law. Seems like a "One hand washes the other" situation to me. Howard Berman, a Democrat from California has been in the gutter with Lamar Smith on the "Orphan Works" Act for a while now it would seem.

Apparently the strategy is to "Slide" the "Orphan Works" Bill (If it gets to that stage) into a Digital Music rights bill that has to be passed. That's one of the other things that immediately tells you that it's underhanded; they know they couldn't present it on it's own, so it ends up as a "Pork Barrel" item on another bill.



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STAMPs
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