[richardjordan]

Thank you for explaining what I'm missing from your point of view. However, I've been following this legalization since it was being discussed a long time ago and it's absolutely about returning works to the public domain. Sure there might be some areas to iron out but it was not conceived as a gift to big corps but as a way of slowly eroding their ability to use copyright to crush competition. Their ability to use the odd photo unpaid is a far smaller issue, it's just one they've discovered resonates so are pushing it as a phony grass roots issue which people are jumping on. This is how big corporations always attack restrictions.

The balance of benefits to society will outweigh the negatives if we can increase the ability to recla orphaned works for the public domain. People reacting against this miss the point that right now if they want to use your photo they will and you'll probably never even find out and have little recourse if you do.