MESSAGE FROM OUR PACA PRESIDENT
Maria Kessler
Dear Members,
I need to call your attention to one of the most important issues we face as an industry—our ability to continue to license images. I know I talk a lot about what is going on in the copyright world; but the reason I do this is that it is the basis of why our industry exists, because we have the right to license or sublicense works from creators.
Response to Threat
There is a movement in this nation to dilute the existing copyright laws. Part of the problem is that the American public has little or no appreciation for the industry we are in or for the one we sustain. The public has no idea how much a studio shoot or location shoot with professional models costs. They have no idea that we must think about all the props we use to make sure they are stylish yet generic so that we don’t get sued by owners. They have no idea how hard it is to style food or create a business concept shot. And, what’s worse, they think they are not hurting us by right-clicking on images and taking them. I have seen words such as, “Google publishes everything online for free, so why should I pay for it?” I wonder what would happen to me if I walked into a restaurant, ate the food, and left without paying the bill. Hmmm.
Here’s the good news: We are not alone in our fight to protect licensing. The software industry, the motion picture industry, and the music and video gaming industries are all sharing in our pain. Luckily, the Obama Administration has some idea of the value that these industries provide and the effect they have on our economy. In the latter part of 2009, the administration appointed Victoria Espinel as our first Copyright Czar. The administration has now called for input from these various industries to explain the threat of piracy on their businesses, and their proposed solutions.
It is vital that we provide a voice here as legislation may follow that could impede our future business. We will be working with the Copyright Alliance and other visual image associations to draft a response that directly addresses the image industry. We need your help. We expect to be calling on many of our members in either one-on-one calls or via a survey. Below is the heart of the request. Full information may be viewed at edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-3539.htm.
The Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) is requesting written submissions from the public for a report the IPEC is mandated to produce—the Joint Strategic Plan—under the language of the PRO-IP Act of 2008 (which also created the IPEC position). Comments are requested addressing two parts: (1) An analysis of the threat posed by IP violations, including the costs to the U.S. economy from these violations, and threats to health and safety. (2) Specific recommendations for accomplishing objectives, including proposed legislative language, regulations, executive orders, etc. (Objectives include reducing the supply of pirated goods, and identifying weaknesses and duplication in U.S. enforcement efforts.)
This request goes to the heart of why PACA exists: to raise a unified voice for its members and the betterment of the industry. Please do not wait for us to contact you if you have input. Your comments are always welcome.
Maria Kessler
PACA President
PACA AnnOUNCES NEW BOARD
I am pleased to present the PACA 2010-2012 Executive Board:
- President: Robert Henson, Blend Images
- Vice President: Nancy Carrizales, Animals, Animals/Earth Scenes
- Treasurer: Dave Herbig, Danita Delimont Stock Photography
- Secretary: Alan Bailey, Rubberball
- Member at Large: Larry Minden, Minden Pictures
- Member at Large: Megan Murphy, Getty Images
- Immediate Past President: Maria Kessler
The new term will begin May 1, 2010. We are now concentrating on committees and committee chairs. Please let me know if you would like to participate.
Sincerely,
Cheryl Pickerell DiFrank
Nominations and Elections Committee Chair
cheryl@scphotos.com
Nancy Wolff
POST OFFICE GETS LICKED ON APPEAL: Gaylord v. US reversed
When the United States government commissions a war memorial, one might assume it has the right to put an image of that memorial on a postage stamp honoring the war’s veterans. Not so, says a Federal appeals court for the Federal Circuit. The court found that the United States Postal Service’s use of a photograph of the Korean War Veterans Memorial infringed on the copyright of sculptor Frank Gaylord and did not constitute fair use of the work.
The court found that the stamp—which generated $17 million in sales—was a commercial use of the work, rather than an educational or non-profit use. The court also did not believe that the photograph on the stamp was “transformative” of the original memorial (which portrays a column of 19 poncho-clad soldiers in a rice paddy). The image on the stamp featured only part of the column of the soldiers, was taken in the snow and used subdued lighting and a monochromatic feel. But the court rejected the argument that these factors constituted a transformation of the work by creating a “surrealistic environment… where the viewer is left unsure whether he is viewing a photograph or statues of actual human beings.” That surreal quality was contributed largely by the sculpture itself, the court reasoned.
Crucial to the court’s decision was the finding that the Government did not own the copyright in the sculpture, in spite of having paid Gaylord $775,000 for the work. This appears to have been the result of a messy contract situation between the Government, Gaylord, and Cooper-Lecky Architects, the contractor for the creation of the memorial. But the court found that Gaylord was ultimately the copyright holder and that the Government’s contributions to the work were mere “suggestion and criticism”, insufficient to make it a joint author.
In contract, the lower court had found that the Post Office’s stamp was transformative, citing differences in character and color, including and changes made between the photograph and the stamp using software. Interestingly, the artist admitted that the stamp caused no harm to the sculpture or the value of derivative works, a factor that other courts heavily weigh. This case demonstrates how fair use decisions are highly factual, and difficult to predict. It is very likely that the result may have been different if heard in another Circuit. In addition, the outcome may have been affected by the fact that the photographer, in selling prints of the photograph, sought permission from the sculptor and paid him royalties. The Post Office never sought permission.
Judge Newman, in a sharply-worded dissent, found it remarkable that the government paid for the work as public art out of taxpayer money, under a contract that required copyright in the United States, and now has to pay damages to the artist.
SUPREME COURT RULES THAT UNREGISTERED WORKS IN SETTLEMENT DO NOT
BAR COURT FROM EXERCISING JURISDICTION
Reed Elsevier Inc. v. Muchnick, U.S., No. 08-103, 3/2/10
In a much-awaited decision, the Supreme Court reverses a federal appeals court's ruling that the presence of unregistered works as part of a class action settlement was a jurisdictional bar to hearing the case. The court emphasized that the Copyright Act's registration requirement (Section 411) constitutes “a precondition to filing a claim that does not restrict a federal court's subject-matter jurisdiction.” This case involved authors asserting ownership of unregistered works in a class action over the electronic distribution rights of freelance authors. The dispute was over the inclusion of freelance authors’ articles in electronic databases. The settlement had been suspended awaiting this decision.
This decision is significant in that it broadens the ability to resolve copyright disputes (such as the Google Book Settlement) using class-action lawsuits. The Google Book settlement was specifically crafted to include only registered works based on the 2nd Circuit decision.
The American Society of Picture Professionals (ASPP) and the Picture Archive Council of America (PACA) invite you to Reinvent, Reimagine and Reinvigorate your career or your approach to the photography business at their “Reinvention Weekend” April 15th-18th in Boston.
Our keynote speaker, Brian Storm of MediaStorm, will join an incredible lineup of speakers: Rick Smolan/Against All Odds, Ilise Benun of marketing-mentor.com, Allen Murabayashi of PhotoShelter, Caitlin Jewell of Silverscape, Nancy Andrews/Detroit Free Press, Lou Jones, Ian Ginsberg of VII Agency, Dane Howard of vuvox.com, and others. Visit www.aspp.com to read more about our speakers and sessions.
The registration fees for this 3-day event is only $495 for ASPP and PACA members, and $590 for sister organizations. Registration is open at tinyurl.com/ASPPReinvention.
A one-day Trade Show will be our kickoff event on Thursday, April 15th, and display tables are still available for $150. During Trade Show hours on Thursday, PACA is providing a demonstration of their newly-launched pacaSearch (www.pacasearch.com). This mega meta-search engine is setting a new standard for stock image search. The event will be open to the public, too; so it's a great opportunity to showcase your products and services to a local audience as well as attendees. To register for the Trade Show, go to tinyurl.com/aspptradeshow.
The Omni Parker House Hotel is in downtown Boston, and is offering us a special room rate of $199 from April 12-18. To book your room at the hotel, follow the link at www.omnihotels.com/FindAHotel/BostonParkerHouse/MeetingFacilities/ASPP4.aspx.
If you sign up for the Reinvention Weekend before March 15th, you will be eligible for a drawing for a complimentary 12-month membership in ASPP (or extension of your existing membership). In addition, for all attendees, ADBASE will be raffling off an amazing annual regional subscription to ADBASE, with a value of $695. This raffle will take place on Friday morning (you have to be present to win).
Thanks go to our sponsors: PACA, ASMP, Corbis, ADBASE, Virtual Picture Desk, agefotostock, Danita Delimont Stock Photography, Copyright Clearance Center, Hunt Photo & Video, National Geographic, and Aurora.
Graphic designers at the HOW Design Conference average spending $15,000 apiece on stock photography.
The HOW Design Conference consistently delivers a receptive, qualified audience of thousands of designers.
But, this year, you can expand your reach at no additional cost. Sign up for the Stock Photography Expo and you’ll also reach attendees of the In-HOWse Designer Conference and Creative Freelancer Conference.
The Expo will be held on June 6 and will take place near the HOW Design Conference registration desk; so thousands of HOW Conference and In-HOWse Designer Conference attendees will be directed to the Expo as they pick up their registration materials.
Don’t miss this chance to reach the elusive In-HOWse market—design managers with budgetary control and buying power for their entire team.
PACA members get a discount!
For more information on the Stock Photography Expo (including an exclusive discount for PACA members only), contact Elayne Recupero at 267/247-5874 or recupero@earthlink.net.
Clean image files with good composition and color are only half of the story. What can't be seen—bit-depth, proper color profile assignment and tagging, resolution, acceptable compression levels—are only some of the many technical properties that must also be managed in Quality Control for commercial images.
Photographers not performing technical QC make more work for their Agencies. And agencies neglecting this make more work for their clients.
ImageAUDIT, available FREE at www.freeimageaudit.com, reads your image files and gives you all the information you need for your technical Quality Control.
"Photographers and Agencies can't let quality control slide, especially in today's ultra-competitive market," says Dexter Lane, of ImagePASSPORT, LLC. "We're pleased to give ImageAUDIT free to the photo community in this time of extraordinary need for efficiency. ImageAUDIT reports on nearly 30 technical properties of image files. Using ImageAUDIT's report in a spreadsheet alone can speed the QC process.
But delivering this data is just the beginning. All these technical readings are the basis for scores of quality control adjustments and corrections available in our full line of software. In the coming weeks, we'll be introducing ImageVISA, ImageVISA PRO, ImageTEXT, and ImagePASSPORT—solutions that automate both image file and metadata standardization and adjustment.
Image file QC adjustments that now take a full day may be performed in a fraction of that time. And spreadsheet preparation and reformatting, once the setup is finalized, may take only minutes—and is repeatable for the same job the next time it comes up. Imagine the bulk of spreadsheet work on 10,000 images for a distribution partner done in under an hour. Current clients are already working with this level of QC automation."
Dexter, founder of PACA's 2003 Digital Image Standards Committee, met Graeme Cookson, developer of all the company's JavaScripts, during a joint presentation on digital image standards at the '03 CEPIC Congress in Lisbon. From ImageAUDIT, his original JavaScript, Graeme was branching out into automating image file adjustments. Now, ImagePASSPORT's software solutions address many vexing metadata spreadsheet problems as well.
Get ImageAUDIT at www.freeimageaudit.com. Contact Dexter Lane at 917/815-2144 for more information about the image file and metadata automated processing of ImagePASSPORT's innovative software.
Through 2010, we will be showcasing twelve agencies on double-page spreads in Graphic Design USA magazine (circulation 25,000+). Each agency will have their logo, an image, contact details and a short sales pitch (up to 20 words). The cost is just $399—and no design fees! The feature for the May issue is “Top Specialty and Niche Collections”, which is proving unsurprisingly popular. We are taking bookings until the end of March, but don’t delay. Once the twelve slots are filled, the opportunity will be gone! For more information about this opportunity and GD USA, please visit www.visualconnections.com/marketing/partners.php.
Deborah Free
President,
Visual Connections LLC
9965 Leroy Pavilion Road
Pavilion, New York 14525
585/768-7880
deborah@visualconnections.com
www.visualconnections.com