With a voice vote the Orphan Works legislation (S 2913) passed in the Senate late Friday night.  At this time the Orpan Works legislation is just being pushed through without thought due to the many other pressing issues being addressed in Washington, and this is not fair to anyone.  The Senate version which was heavily lobbied by the American Library Association will make it easier for them however severly hurt photographers.

The next step is for the House to take up the measure.  Currently there is a bill in the house which is better, as the language is much more suitable to photographers and should be kept as is at this time.  Due to these other considerations in Washington, the House may just gut their bill and take the language from the Senate bill for passage this session.

From what I recall the representives we elect for Washington are there to represent their constituents in their district and not just blindly let legislation go through since they are working on other items.  It is not a question of if an orphan works bill will pass into law whether this year or next, but the langauge in the bill needs to be good for all parties and the Senate bill is not.