Copyright, Copyright, Copyright

We here at Photo Business News encourage people to recognize the value of their copyright. These days, more and more people are crying that copyright shouldn't exist, or that people should be free to mash-up your work without your permission. In other words - once you put your work out for public consumption, the public owns it and can do what they want with it.

Uh, no.

Going into court is a painful process. It's always easier for both parties to come to a settlement, and not have to wade into the morass of Federal court. Unfortunately, though, thieves, often empowered by a belief that they can outspend and wait-out an artist whose work they stole, will fight until the bitter end. Then, you have judges, who can understand, say, Disney's claims of lost income when they are infringed, but consider a photographer who had his work infringed as getting some sort of windfall they otherwise wouldn't have received or certainly aren't entitled to, when some Fortune 500 company steals or misuses their work, and, as such, gives them some minuscule award of damages.

Yet, the fight must go on. It is, simply, a fight for what is right. Sometimes, fighting for what is right isn't easy.

Back in April of this year, Photo Attorney Carolyn Wright began a "Diary" of a copyright infringement, that's worth having a read - if for no other reason than to see the minutia that is involved.

So, I commend you to read the series.

- Diary of a Copyright Infringement Lawsuit – 1

- Diary of a Copyright Infringement Lawsuit – 2

- Diary of a Copyright Infringement Lawsuit – 2a

- Diary of a Copyright Infringement Lawsuit – 3

- Diary of a Copyright Infringement Lawsuit – 4


One of the most important things about a copyright infringement that you're dealing with, is to be very careful about how and when you might contact the infringer, and what you might say.

Whatever you write in your emails will become a part of the evidence against you, if, for example, you demand $500 and then later, after learning more about the breadth of the infringement, you demand $50,000, your $500 email will cost you.

Most attorneys will talk to you for 5-15 minutes about your case, generally, before beginning to charge you. Most will give you general information, listen to the specifics of your case, and talk about possibilities and probabilities. At the point that they formally start giving you "advice" is when they'll start charging you. Understand, though, they are also trying to decide if they will take you on as a client.

Most importantly, make sure the lawyer you contact knows copyright. Disastrous mistakes get made when you hire a lawyer who isn't specialized in copyright.

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NPPA Workshops - The Business of Photography

Not only do we all know a colleague in our photographic community who could use some business counsel, but a refresher and new perspective on the business of photography could benefit you as well. To that end, the NPPA has put together an amazing day of workshops - the NPPA Business Blitz, which kicked of at the beginning of June in the DC area, and is now traveling the country.

How much? $10 ALL DAY (NPPA members) and $20 (non-NPPA members)

So, encourage your friends to go (send them a link to this) and let's get people focused on the business of being a photographer!

• Register for Denver, August 8th - here
• Register for St. Louis, September 29 - here
• Register for San Jose, October 7 - here
• Register for St. Petersburg, November 10 - here

Here's what was done in DC (each city varies a little):

9am - 10am - Keynote - Keynote: John Harrington- A Strategic Roadmap to Success: Avoiding Pitfalls and a Survey of Today's Landscape

Breakout sessions were offered throughout the day. Each of the following was offered in three time slots:

• John Harrington: Real Business, Real Estimates, Real Life: Surviving and Thriving as a Working Professional
• Allen Murabayashi: SEO and the Web
• Chip Litherland: How I Learned From My Mistakes to Build a Successful Freelance Business
• Garrett Hubbard: Shooting, Editing, and Maximizing Profitability for Video Storytelling
• Craig Mitchelldyer: Lighting Session - Making Your Work Stand Out from the Crowd

6:30 pm - 7:30 pm - Keynote: Allen Murabayashi; Put More Business in Your Photo Business

Joining the program in Denver will be Ellen Jaskol, who not only has won 2 Pulitzer Prizes, but spent 17 at the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, and before that was at the Los Angeles Times. Since 2009 she's been the main photographer for the new magazine, Colorado View.

Also joining the program in Denver will be Matt Slaby, a photographer and founding member of LUCEO Images based in Denver.

Sponsored by the good people of Nikon and great thanks to the Nikon Professional Services team, as well as the geniuses behind Photoshelter.

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VIDEO: The Space Shuttle Legend You (Likely) Never Knew

Scott Andrews has been covering the NASA Shuttle since before it first launched. Photo Business News previously reported about Schoot in the run up to the he 2011 inauguration (here - Scott Andrews, Remote Cameras, and the Inauguration (1/17/09). When it came time to take a unique look at the last shuttle launch, Washington Times decided to take a look at Scott's coverage of the shuttle. Scott first worked for Nikon Professional Services, and currently works for Canon Professional Services, however he has always helped out all "brands" of photographers whenever he's been asked.

The Washington Times video is in two parts (Part 1 and Part 2) - check them both out!

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VIDEO: On Assignment - Family Fitness Magazine

From time to time, we have an opportunity to share with you assignments we've done. Here's one we did with fitness guru Denise Austin recently, for Family Fitness Magazine. Enjoy!

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The State of the Stock Industry

The stock photography industry is in free fall, and the floor seems to be porous, whereby free isn't even the bottom. While photographers who control their rates using services such as PhotoShelter, with pricing models powered by the baseline of fotoQuote, are able to better withstand the demand for lower rates, by simply saying "no" when unreasonable offers are made, those who are at the whim of pricing models set by a conglomerate, are suffering.

It would be smart for organizations, like Getty, Corbis, and others who have the marketshare to allow photographers to use their services more as a portal, or conduit, while permitting those who use the portal to set the rates. A transaction fee similar to that paid to credit card companies who process transactions (2-4%) would suffice.

Betsy Reid has done a remarkable job of analyzing the state of the market, over at the Brittish Journal of Photography, here, and I highly recommend it for a thoughtful read!

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STOP Using Freelancers!

Once upon a time, news organizations had robust photo staffs that could cover the news of the day. These staffers were paid well, provided with gear, a retirement, and in turn, were loyal, and ethical, in their work. They also feared being fired for doing something wrong and so, in large part, they didn't. A staffer making $45k a year costs the organization, when all is included, between $250 and $300 a day. The AP, for example, when they pay a staffer $65k a year, and then adding in all their expenses ( office space, computers, cameras, car/mileage, 401k, health insurance, etc) comes to about $320 - $500 or so. It's no wonder they haven't replaced many staffers and are using freelancers when they cost only $200, and they get all the same rights from freelancers, as employees!

Staffers, of course, should do everything they can to discourage management from using freelancers, because, from a cost standpoint alone, the rise of the freelancer equates to the demise of the staffer - it's not like there's less news these days!

I understand that, from time to time, when there's a big news story in a region, temporary needs for freelancers arise. However, when an organization uses multiple freelancers daily, guess what? It's time to staff up! Heck, even union agreements (wherever they still exist) place limits on the frequency of freelance use for the very reason to protect staff positions.

Of course, news organizations, and the AP is just the most recent example, are suffering under the ethically challenged freelancers. Poynter did a good job of reporting on this here, and PDNPulse reported - Another Photo Manipulation Case Raises Question: Is the Penalty High Enough?, and PDN also reported on a Getty freelancer here - Photographer Cut by Getty for Altered Golf Photo Offers Explanation , and the BBC even reported about a freelancer for Reuters (here) who did the same thing.

Yes, there are organizations that need a photographer once a month or twice a year, and freelancers are good for that. Freelancers fit the bill in many instances. However, sending an ethically sound photographer on a plane trip to ensure the images are legitimate serves the long term best interests of news gathering organizations. Hoping you get good sound images from a freelancer you found from an internet search, or a friend of a friend of a friend, is no way to sustain the reputation of your news organization. I know budgets are tight, but with your organizations' reputation on the line as every freelance image moves over the wire, is it worth it?

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Objections to ProtectIP Act - Silly Rabbit, Tricks are for Kids!

Oh, those law professors, living in their ivory towers and thinking their reality is the real world. Like Neo, their reality is so far removed from the real world that they know not of which they speak!

Engadget is reporting (here) that 100 or so lawyers have written members of Congress, as Engadget writes "under the bill being advocated for by the RIAA the MPAA, a judge can issue a temporary restraining order that will essentially shutdown a site based only on evidence presented by the government. " And, as such, the lawyers believe that when a site is shut down, even temporarily, it restricts free speech.

Au contrare. It restricts people from profiting from the theft of intellectual property of another.

There are many examples of property being restricted when its use is related to an alleged crime. Take the, ahem, John, who gets busted allegedly soliciting prostitution - in many jurisdictions, the punishment begins with the impounding of his car. It doesn't matter that he had other personal property in the car, the car and it's contents are impounded.

When a house gets raided, say, looking for drugs, things can get damaged, or impounded, during the course of that investigation, and, in some cases, the house may be sealed for a period of time.

Or, take the white collar (alleged) criminal, who may have committed a crime online, or have used his computer(s) to commit the crime. When the government raids his home, they impound his computer to look for evidence, and that evidence isn't often returned until after the trial, yet the accused loses the ability to use the computer, and likely access to all the other documents on it. What if the accused was a small business owner who has Quickbooks on it and couldn't run the business without it?

Of course, Google is opposed to it, because it could be used to shut down, or limit, vast swaths of Google, who, oh, that's right - sells advertising alongside everything, including illegal stuff.

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