Needle and ThREAD: Stitching for Literacy

FROM THE ILLUSTRATORS’ PARTNERSHIP
Orphan Works Update: Congress has reconvened today.
11.19.08

They’re scheduled to be in session until Friday, although that could change. And although sponsors of the Orphan Works bill say publicly that it won’t come up, sources have told us they’ll try to use the lame duck session to pass it by means of another back room deal.

Currently the situation in Washington is fluid, but if deals are being made, they’ll be made before the bill is placed on the Suspensions calendar. Then they’ll try to pass it immediately. How we respond will depend on developments. But while we keep watch, consider this news from the National Journal, Nov. 12, 2008:

Conyers To Abolish IP Subcommittee On Judiciary Panel
by Andrew Noyes

“House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers will abolish the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property in the new Congress and instead keep intellectual property issues at the full committee level, a Judiciary aide told Congress Daily today.” This is the subcommittee that spawned the Orphan Works Act and placed it on the “Rocket Docket.” Yet remember last spring, when those lobbying for this bill warned us that unless we accepted it - no matter how bad it was - that the next chairman of the Subcommittee would be a copyright foe and would pass a worse one? Well, now the Subcommittee itself won’t exist. So much for urging artists to bet against themselves!

This bill is very controversial. It would strip ordinary citizens of their intellectual property rights without due process. This is no way to pass legislation that would radically change US property laws. The bill can be fixed, but there is no time to fix it in a lame duck session. Stay tuned.

- Brad Holland and Cynthia Turner, for the Board of the Illustrators’ Partnership
______________________________________________________________
Over 80 organizations oppose this bill, representing over half a million creators.
U.S. Creators and the image-making public can email Congress through the Capwiz site.

2 minutes is all it takes to tell the U.S. Congress to uphold copyright protection for the world’s artists.

INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS please fax these 4 U.S. State Agencies and appeal to your home representatives for intervention.

CALL CONGRESS: 1-800-828-0498. Tell the U.S. Capitol Switchboard Operator “I would like to leave a message for Congressperson __________ that I oppose the Orphan Works Act.” The switchboard operator will patch you through to the lawmaker’s office and often take a message which also gets passed on to the lawmaker. Once you’re put through tell your Representative the message again.

Jen here.

It’s time. In fact, I’m late.

Why does the effort to make Orphan Works available seek to identify what Orphan Works are NOT rather than what they ARE?

A database where all images and art can be officially claimed will require participation by every individual, professional or not, who takes a picture and posts it on the Web, or else that picture becomes an Orphan Work and available for use by anyone for any purpose.

We can’t get people to vote. Do you think we can get them to register each and every picture they snap?

Passive copyright protection is a necessary and basic right of every individual, not just professional artists, in a free country.

If the goal is genuinely to make Orphan Works available to museums, libraries, and universities, then let’s approach the legislation from that angle: let’s have would-be users apply for special permission. Let’s have the would-be private databases collect information on true Orphan Works and leave the rest of us alone.

Current legislation seeks to siphon an ocean so a small group of people can have tea.

Even if you sent an e-mail, send another one. (You may need to click “change address.” My computer automatically shows my zip code and I’m not up for working out the right link.)

It needs to be stopped.

I’ve got another book passage to share. Let’s see if it resonates for any of you, out of context.

This is from page 33 of the paperback edition of Haven Kimmel’s The Used World.

She wondered, in the months that followed and certainly now, what the human eye sees in that first moment. Do we know something, or do we decide it in an instant and only later rewrite the scene to imply that something decided on us?

I read these sentences a number of times, contemplated their meaning and my own experience with what I think is the meaning, and I believe these sentences spawned an idea in my NaNo project. I think that’s quite a lot for two sentences to deliver.

Do they do anything for any of you?

As I was making the link for the title just now, I discovered a radio interview with Haven discussing this book on North Carolina Public Radio. I haven’t listened to it yet, but I will soon. You can beat me to it if you’d like.

As you can tell (page 33), I haven’t gotten far in the book. The Vocab Fun, Three Bears, and NaNo projects are all coming to a head just now. Things could be a bit spotty around here between now and December 2 or 3 or so.

The Monday “What have you done lately?” accountability post, where I announce my program promotion goal for the week and fess up on last week’s goal.

Last week my goal was to answer Sarah’s question about how she can get involved. Please direct your attention to the menu in the sidebar to the right. Under the Bookmark Challenge Kit link is a What Can I Do? link. See it? Take a look and let me know what additions, subtractions, or multiplications might need to be made.

I have not heard back from EGA regarding an article in Needle Arts, but I got a nice response from ALA. We’ll see where that goes.

We’re getting down to the wire with all my deadlines (Vocab Fun, Three Bears Puzzle Book, and NaNo) so I want to keep the next couple of goals kind of simple. Therefore, my goal this week is to contact Nordic Needle about a program idea they had last spring. It’s a program idea for them, but I’m thinking I want to horn in on it, if they’ll let me. We’ll see. It’s a nice idea however they decide to play it. If it pans out, I may be more forthcoming with details next week.

What’s on my mp3 player? All-American Girl, by Meg Cabot.

To me, Meg Cabot is like Laurie Halse Anderson. Both can take me Over the Top because they create characters that are painfully and delightfully realistic even if the situations are not.

In All-American-Girl, Samantha Madison saves the President of the United States from an assassin. Yep. And I willingly went with it. That’s not the kind of “unbelievable” situation that bothers me, though. It’s a very fine line. Once you’ve swallowed that hunk of silliness (something I indulge in frequently), the story plays out in a natural, believable, and entertaining Cabot-y way.

There are two annoying sisters, an unrequited crush on the older sister’s boyfriend, alienation from the In crowd, sudden and unwanted fame and popularity, some tough lessons on life and art, a fair share of humiliation, some soul-searching and courage-finding, and–of course–a cute boy as the payoff that makes it all worthwhile. Woe to young girls who don’t have the cute-boy payoff.

NaNo is severely cutting into my reading time, but I’m keeping pace with audio books because they are conducive to multi-tasking. A gal’s got to get to the mailbox, you know.

This weekend we’re going over to the Orphan Works Opposition Headquarters. I hope you will go poke around to get a better sense of the absurdity of this legislation. Sign the petition, and send an e-mail to your congressperson.

At one time I pointed out this fox image used without permission or payment on this site. A casual Saturday afternoon search on the Internet brought it to our attention. Right now, under current copyright law it is illegal for that organization to use that image without our permission. We are well within our rights to say, “Yo, stop it!” and we could even pursue damages. As I understand it, if current legislation passes, we would not be able to stop them from using it because they are a non-profit organization.

Do you suppose the person who maintains the Web site (and stole the image) is expected to do it for free? Do you suppose the organization managers do their work for free? No and no. “Non-profit” does not mean staff are not paid. I have a number of friends who work for non-profit organizations. They earn better livings than we do, I assure you. Yet some politicians and lobbyists think our work shouldn’t require remuneration.

Yeah. It’s a croc.

I am the Little Red Jen. I picked gallons of blueberries all by myself, washed them all by myself, froze them on trays all by myself, and packed them in bags all by myself. And this bag you see here. I ate them all by myself. Mostly in oatmeal.

The good news is, I have thirteen other bags I can share. Blueberry buckle anyone?

Today: 2,000 NaNo words (one title from the comments), 4 puzzles completed, plans for the next 4 puzzles

My brain hurts.

Where did today go? Can I get it back?

I spent many hours today discussing Orphan Works legislation. Chances are good it’s going to come up in this special lame-duck session of Congress. I have a choice to make. SCBWI and TNNA have both officially opposed the legislation. I pay dues to these organizations and am happy to do it. CHA, on the other hand, has in the past supported the House bill, but is currently attempting to take a neutral position, not opposing and not supporting. Is this an organization I want to give my money to?

I value my relationships with the other Designer members. I’ve learned heaps from them. I also value the connections I can make with manufacturers and editors.

The CHA president was out of the office today but took time to call me twice between meetings. I appreciated having his ear. My impression is that we’re not that far apart on our views, just on the best way to act on them.

And now I have a difficult decision to make. I’m giving myself a few days to think about it.

Of this much, I feel certain: current Orphan Works legislation is BAD.

A blog reader e-mailed and asked who it was that was pushing for this legislation. The answer: people who stand to benefit, primarily those who want to own the private databases, such as Google and Microsoft. There are others, too. One I’m scared to name because law suits have already been filed.

Someone did a search for owners of Orphan Works URLs. More than a few potential database URLs have been purchased. Opportunists are poised to pounce if the opportunity to cash in arises. Just how many databases will artists have to register each and every piece of art with? How many databases will art users have to search to fulfill the requirements for making a reasonable effort to locate the owner of a piece of art? Who really believes this is just about making very old art available to museums and libraries?

I could go on and on and on, but I already have today, and I’m tired. Plus, is this not the worst blog post ever?

I’d rather brainstorm fictional YA book titles.

Put your thinking totems on. I invite you to join the wackiness that is NaNoWriMo for just a few minutes and give me hand. I need a whole bunch of fictional YA book titles, dozens at least. Yes, indeedy, I’m writing about fictional fiction. Or something. It’s still a little confusing.

I need a variety of genres: titles that sound like fantasy, mystery, romance, whatever. Really, anything goes. Extra points for humor and/or cleverness. You can rearrange real titles (put the real title in parentheses so we can see how clever you are) or pull words out of the air, which is what I’ve been doing. You can even make up words and call it Fantasy.

Jen in NaNoLand. There’s a story out there somewhere, I just know it!

If you choose to accept this Thinkquest and post your titles in the comments, we’re going to assume you’re giving me permission to use them, assigning me all, or at least shared, rights to them. (And just so you know, under current laws you can’t copyright a title. If Orphan Works legislation passes, a copyright won’t mean diddly, anyway. Oooooooo, Jen got snippy.) We should also assume that I’m going to sell this NaNoNovel, which will be made great by your titles, for millions of dollars, become famous, younger, and prettier, and you will get bupkiss, which is to say my undying gratitude.

Fine print. Fine print. Fine print.

This kind of assistance is perfectly legal under NaNo rules. I checked.

So…what have you got for me?

As of today: 24,091 words out of 50,000.

When I invited all you readers to join me on the NaNo adventure, Becca was the only one to accept. That alone is huge, but she’s also tap-tap-tapping toward a win. At this point, I think it’s safe to say that win or lose, she’s going to make a good showing. She already has.

Here’s a glimpse into her experience:

NaNoWriMo has been a new kind of challenge for me and is genuinely exciting. There is not only the bipolar high/low of writing but the reflection that occurs when you aren’t writing. I’m constantly thinking about the novel, even, it seems, in my sleep. It is a total immersion experience.

I’ve found that I don’t only reflect on my novel but on the NaNoing experience itself. (Yes, Virginia, it is a verb!) Chris Baty, in No Plot? No Problem! suggests the benefits of a writing totem that can be donned and doffed. I took this to heart. My son’s purple wizard’s hat has become my totem. (My novel is a fantasy involving Wizards, but I didn’t know that until I started writing.) It is a visible cue to my husband and son that I am in The Creative Process and must not be messed with. Something to say to me? Write it down. It works with the humans I live with, not so well with the felines.

It has, of course, sparked a certain amount of silliness, especially with my son’s high school senior friends. And so began what is now my NaNoing mantra–Respect the Hat.

The other night, when words simply weren’t coming, I played a game of Mahjong Titans. My husband discovered me in this pursuit and informed me that I was Disrespecting the Hat. (I was still wearing it.) I realized he was right. Breaks are fine, breaks are necessary, but I shouldn’t wear the Hat during them. When I’m wearing the Hat, it tells not only my family, but me, that I am in a certain place, and while there, I need to dedicate myself to that place.

I think that’s true of all the hats we wear. We need to give each hat its special place and all of our passion while we are wearing it, and we need to be able to put it aside when it’s time to wear another one. Yes, we can stack hats, but let’s face it, we’re not great at any one thing when we’re combining. That’s not to say we can’t carry five or six hats and change very quickly.

What NaNo has taught me is that it is very good to have a Hat that allows me to be and do that Thing that I want. That Thing will not always be the same Thing, but it will always be me. I think I’m going to keep this Hat after the month is over.

My other thought is to Love the Hat You Are Wearing. If you don’t, consider unloading that one. Life is too precious to waste on bad fashion accessories.

Hear, hear. The NaNo experience extends well beyond November and the act of corralling 50,000 words in a single document. Hats off to Becca!

I have no NaNo totem. Unless you count a cup of tea. Which you shouldn’t. So in an act of solidarity and support, I take a totem in Becca’s honor. Sure, I could have done better with a bit of preparation, but I have another 1,000 words to write today on top of a full day’s work. At least it’s not underwear.

The Monday “What have you done lately?” accountability post, where I announce my program promotion goal for the week and fess up on last week’s goal.

Last week, my goal was to update the Challenge Kit with 2009 materials. This might actually tie into Shelly’s suggestion for a flier anyone can print and distribute. However, I failed. In fact, I didn’t even look at the kit. :-/

I also added the goal of sending communication to ALA as per Anna’s suggestion. This, I did, mostly because Anna did the legwork and made it super-easy with the link in the comments. Props to Anna!

Two additional things happened last week.

1. I got a response to my e-letter to the CBC saying the person I contacted was no longer there, so I should contact person A, B, or C, depending on my needs. Ta-da! It took two tries, but I’m optimistic that I reached the best possible person. No response from that person, but that’s all right. This is about me (isn’t everything?) doing what I can do.

2. I was in touch with President of EGA and the editor of Needle Arts, the EGA magazine. We’re looking into the possibility of having an article in the March issue. It’s late to be getting something in that issue, but the June issue is too late for 2009 and a bit early for 2010. I’m on hold until the layout is done, which should be soon, and then we’ll see if there’s room and how much. I did a little prep work on that so that I can have something ready quickly if the opportunity arises. I hope it does. I’d love to have EGA on board.

I’ve not heard anything from ANG, but I’m not a member, either.

The view from Kenai Fjords Glacier Lodge in November.

As for this week’s goal, you might think I’d go back and try to accomplish the Challenge Kit update, but you’d be wrong. A comment from Sarah on last week’s post has inspired a new goal. Sarah wants to know how she can get involved.

That kind of stopped me in my tracks. Why on earth don’t I have a page where I can direct her?

And that’s my goal for this week.

The answer to my question (not Sarah’s) is that to date I’ve focused on getting independent shop owners involved. The Challenge Kit was designed to support them. (By the way, anyone can go look at the kit and use anything in it. There’s a link in the menu on the sidebar.)

It’s time to do something to support Sarah and other individuals who want to get involved. I’m not sure what it will be, exactly, but I’m thinking about it.

Thanks, Sarah.