UK museums will have to pay for images where copyright is unknown - The Art Newspaper

via Emily Goodhand, who asks one of the right questions: what happens to unpaid monies? Another right question: who collects the money? And another one: what does this have to do with incentivizing the creation of new works, since no author would be motivated one way or the other by what happens to her work if she disappears?

I suspect the real issue here is revealed by the one supporter of the measure, who is quoted saying that non-orphan rightsholders don’t want to have to “compete” with orphans that are free to use unless/until a rightsholder shows up. This is about raising costs to protect incumbent rightsholders, with no benefit to the public.