z m o l b l o g

These are “orphan works,” copyrighted materials that lack any obvious way to find the rightsholder. But just going ahead and using the material can be risky; if a rightsholder shows up after your museum exhibition, documentary, or parents’ wedding photographer is in the wild, he or she can seek massive statutory damages.
Orphan works legislation attempts to remedy this problem by allowing people to use material after a “good faith” search for the owner; it also creates electronic databases to make searching for owners easier. Should a rightsholder emerge, that person would be owed money but not massive damages.   Full article here