This Note focuses on orphan works–works whose copyright owners cannot be found–and the problems they create for libraries and archives that wish to preserve and facilitate access to them. After describing the legal basis for the orphan works problem, the Note analyzes and critiques proposed legislative and scholarly solutions. After concluding that prior solutions fail to adequately address the needs of libraries and archives, the Note offers a solution based on the policy rationales underlying the traditional property concept of adverse possession, since the justifications that supported the advent of the adverse possession doctrine can also be applied to the current orphan works problem. The proposed solution ultimately seeks to balance the concerns of institutions of cultural heritage with the interests of copyright holders.
Note Author: Megan Bibb
