International Approaches to the Orphan Works Problem

Abstract

Regardless of the immediacy of the threat to intellectual progress created by orphan works, several countries have had systems in place for a number of years in order to combat the problem of stagnant works, such as those that have been orphaned. For many more countries, a solution has not yet been implemented, and the orphan works problem is the subject of myriad studies. This paper will look at the systems that are in place, as well as the inquiries into the problem in the United States and in Europe. What seems at first like a minor by-product of modern copyright law in reality threatens the need to rethink our copyright regimes in order to better serve the real functions of the property right.