The 2008 Senate version of
orphan works legislation (S. 2913) was named for Shawn Bentley. He was
a colleague and friend of mine, both when he served as
counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee under Senator
Orrin Hatch of Utah for ten years, as well as after he
left Capitol Hill to work for AOL Time Warner.
After Shawn's passing, Senator Hatch spoke on the Senate
floor about him and you can find the Senator’s full
comments here. Every spring, a luncheon is held to
present the annual Shawn Bentley Public Service Award
(pdf of the invite with a picture of
Shawn). In
2008, the award was presented by Chief Justice John
Roberts, Jr. of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Shawn's professionalism, knowledge, and personality were
respected and appreciated by all those who had the
opportunity to work with him. He will be missed.