Wired News: Saving the Artistic Orphans

In Wired (Sept 20), Katie Dean writes about the Kahle case:

The plaintiffs are currently collecting examples of orphan works to bolster their case. In one instance, a university seeks to digitize all the newspapers in the state, but for some of the defunct papers, it is impossible to know who owns the back issues, Sprigman said.

In another case, an editor would like to re-publish the essays of Dr. Leo Alexander, who wrote articles that dissect Nazi ethics for criminology journals, but the author is dead and his heirs haven't been found to grant permission. Schism, a monthly magazine of fringe literature from the late 1960s and early 1970s, is another puzzle where the copyright owner is unknown.

Library and archive examples are still needed. If your digitization project has stalled cuz you have no clue who to contact for permissions, submit the details here.