Orphan Works

Orphan Worksare copyrighted works for which the copyright holder is not evident. It might be that the work is old and information about the copyright holder has been lost. Or it might be difficult to determine the copyright holder. For example, a photograph may be taken by one person, but if it is a work-for-hire, the copyright holder may be the company that paid the photographer, but this company might be owned by a larger company.