Quick correction, Takehiko Inoue does indeed use a pencil and erases the pencil work after inking. You can see this process in action on his excellent behind the scenes DVD.

I'm pretty sure I missed out on the active discussion in this thread, but I thought I should chime in.

So this is bad right? But the Orphaned Works Proposal is good? Surely I can't be the only person who sees the similarities here.

"The mediocre will have to find another line of work that actually benefits society."

Ha, ha, ha! Like stealing other artists work? If this bill goes through stealing work will be big business. Personally I'd rather see more people creating.

I don't know which artists you've been listening to about this Anonymous, but all the people I've heard speak out against this bill are very original, very competent artists. Artists who have already had work stolen overseas, and are simply afraid of people doing the same here with the law backing the thieves up.

It's not up to you or I to decide if an artist is talented enough to make a living — it's up to the marketplace. A bill like this would decimate that marketplace for artists, and the first to feel the pinch would be the lovely, exciting fringe creators out there.

People who make boring, generic work are usually pretty well established and would be able to weather a lawsuit or two no problem. It's the little Joe/Jill indy-comic crowd that's going to get screwed.

It's legalized plagiarism, and I don't know any writers or musicians who would allow a bill like this to pass. Art something that by it's very nature is nonessential. So bottom line, stealing it isn't going to save any lives.

It's not about if this is a good bill or even if there could be a better one. The question is; should there really be an "orphaned" bill at all?

Referring to work as "orphaned" is a huge mistake. Work that's been stolen, copied, scanned, posted, reposted and then finally reused should probably be considered kidnaped.

This bill was drafted so people could make money easily and cheaply off of others hard work, and it's a little naive to think that drafters had artists' best interests in mind.

Seriously? I love this Blog, but this is a terrible, TERRIBLE bill for visual artists. I'm actually a little surprised that Boingboing (which usually seems so artist friendly) would link to an article championing this proposal.

You guys should really do a follow up, and ask Coop and all the other artists you link to what they think about this. You should also contact Trevor Brown who was recently boned by the band Crystal Castles . I'm sure he'd have a story or two about:

"second author to negotiate with that owner in good faith to determine reasonable compensation for the use"