The US Copyright Office last week published a report dealing with so called "orphan works". These are creative assets, possibly music, that for various reasons become of unclear ownership - ie it isn't obvious who, if anyone, owns the copyright on them.
The report, initiated by US Senators Orrin Hatch and Patrick Leahy, says that "orphan works" are a problem because the ambiguity in ownership stops many people from using them, in case doing so opens them to the risk of future copyright violation charges. The report notes: "Many users of copyrighted works who have limited resources or are particularly risk-averse have indicated that the risk of liability for copyright infringement, however remote, is enough to prompt them simply to not make use of the work. Such an outcome is not in the public interest."
The Office's report to the Senate Judiciary Committee proposes a number of ways to improve copyright database and search services, as well legislative moves to stop some of the tax and bankruptcy systems than create "orphan works" in the first place. It remains to be seen how the Committee acts on the Office's findings.