Between the initial letters and the reply comments - nearly all of which opposed orphan works legislation - illustrators generated more than 10 times the total number of letters on which the original orphan works proposals were based. In a just world that should be enough to stop the anti-copyright movement; but unfortunately, there are powerful corporate interests lobbying for its passage and if we hope to retain the protections of current copyright law we'll have to continue to rely on our energy, our will and the justness of our cause to persuade lawmakers.
In addition to thanking all of you who wrote letters - many of which were exceptional - we'd like to give special thanks to the 12 illustrators organizations who have steadfastly supported our effort. Those groups are listed, along with their logos, below.
Additional thanks go to artists Will Terry, whose YouTube seminar gave us access to his audience, and to Glenda Rogers, whose idea it was to connect us with Will. Nearly 100,000 viewers saw our message that way and there can be no doubt that it played a key role in generating such a significant response on such short notice.
The effort to undermine copyright law now moves into Congress and in the coming year we'll have to turn our attention there. But for now, it's time to just say thank you and wish all of you the best for 2016.
