The United States Copyright Office is investigating ways to deal with “orphan works” — software and other copyrighted material whose owners can no longer be found, or who no longer exist.This could be a huge deal for Apple II users if the Copyright Office comes up with rules indicating exactly what happens if the author of a copyrighted work can no longer be located, or if a piece of software is abandoned by its publisher. Depending on what they choose to do, we may find that vast quantities of Apple II software becomes, essentially, public domain. A2Central.com urges you to visit the US Copyright Office’s orphan works site and give them your input.