You have another misconception in your article. You stated, "If your copyright is registered, you may also claim statutory damages (between $750 and $30,000 per work -- up to $150,000 per work if you can demonstrate that the infringment was willful"
There is nothing in Marybeth Peters report to indicate that registered copyrights cannot be orphaned or that her office's proposed changes do not also apply to registered works. There is no means to search the copyright database for a specific image if that image has no identifying marks on it (whether none were applied by the copyright owner, or the paid medium in which it was used left none, or a bad faith user deleted it). Even if it were possible to find that information in the copyright office's system, the contact information could be outdated based on the age of the copyright. That would then be an orphaned work. Once that work is deemed a copyright orphan, the new rulings of fair and reasonable payments apply once the copyright owner surfaces after the work is infringed.
As Marybeth Peters stated, "we do believe that in the case of orphan works, the rationale for statutory damages is weak. By definition, in the orphan work situation, the user is acting in good faith and diligently searching for the owner, and the owner is absent." There is no exemption for registered works. If a registered copyright owner cannot be found by some kind of diligent, good faith search, it is an orphan. "If orphan works legislation does not remove statutory damages from the equation, it will not motivate users to go forward with important, productive uses. On the other hand, the prospect of orphan works legislation may motivate some owners to participate more actively in the copyright system by making themselves available."
Registered or not, orphan copyrights become legal fair game for use. By taking away the option to sue for damages, there is very little risk for using orphaned works. The only risk is paying whatever amount would normally have been paid to however few people ever find that their copyrighted works are being used. In the case of bulk sales of orphaned works, that's next to nothing.
Registered copyrights can be orphaned
There is nothing in Marybeth Peters report to indicate that registered copyrights cannot be orphaned or that her office's proposed changes do not also apply to registered works. There is no means to search the copyright database for a specific image if that image has no identifying marks on it (whether none were applied by the copyright owner, or the paid medium in which it was used left none, or a bad faith user deleted it). Even if it were possible to find that information in the copyright office's system, the contact information could be outdated based on the age of the copyright. That would then be an orphaned work. Once that work is deemed a copyright orphan, the new rulings of fair and reasonable payments apply once the copyright owner surfaces after the work is infringed.
As Marybeth Peters stated, "we do believe that in the case of orphan works, the rationale for statutory damages is weak. By definition, in the orphan work situation, the user is acting in good faith and diligently searching for the owner, and the owner is absent." There is no exemption for registered works. If a registered copyright owner cannot be found by some kind of diligent, good faith search, it is an orphan. "If orphan works legislation does not remove statutory damages from the equation, it will not motivate users to go forward with important, productive uses. On the other hand, the prospect of orphan works legislation may motivate some owners to participate more actively in the copyright system by making themselves available."
Registered or not, orphan copyrights become legal fair game for use. By taking away the option to sue for damages, there is very little risk for using orphaned works. The only risk is paying whatever amount would normally have been paid to however few people ever find that their copyrighted works are being used. In the case of bulk sales of orphaned works, that's next to nothing.