Libraries
Passage of The Public Domain Enhancement Act is crucial to libraries as it would provide a single database that could be easily and quickly searched to determine whether or not a particular work remains under copyright protection or is in the public domain.
Film Preservationists
Movie preservationists, archivists, and enthusiasts support the PDEA because it will save orphan films--those created and subsequently abandoned by their copyright owners. Many were captured on a medium, which is literally disintegrating faster than the term of their copyright protection. The overwhelming majority of these films are not being commercially exploited and have been abandoned by their original owners. However, under current law, to restore these and make them available to the public, one needs to hunt down an elusive copyright owner to get permission. This is costly, and often impossible. Since there would never be a commercial benefit from most of these films, they disintegrate without being preserved.
Archivists
Archivists struggle daily to preserve older books, artwork, music, and film in order to make knowledge and historical records available to present and future generations. From the National Archives to the town historian, archivists often deal with works near the end of their copyright terms, unavailable in the market but still valuable sources of knowledge. They support the PDEA because they believe society would benefit greatly if they could make these works more publicly available.
Citizens
Almost 20,000 citizens have signed the petition to reclaim the public domain because they believe the public domain is crucial to the spread of knowledge and culture, and crucial in assuring access to our past. The petition asks Members of Congress to reconsider major changes that they have made to the copyright system that unnecessarily threaten the public domain without any corresponding benefit to copyright holders, and to support the PDEA.