## PhotoRESEARCHER Newsletter for February ## 413

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Key Words: Kill Fee | Purchase Order | Cancelled | Signature | Changes | Mailers | Cash-Basis Taxpayer | Photographic Education | News Photographers | AntiVirus | Domain Names | Art | Attorney | Intellectual Property | Ireland |

NEWSWORDS: Freeze Mode | Photo Management | Image Service | Choices | Backyard | Wildlife | Hong Kong | Career | Tool | School | Tsunami | Retirement | Fundementals

Welcome to PhotoRESEARCHER Newsletter, a free monthly newsletter from PhotoSource International. <http://www.photosource.com>

(If you do not wish to receive the PhotoRESEARCHER Newsletter, please see the instructions at the end of this newsletter.)

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The concept that a termination or "kill" fee is due to a photographer when an assignment is cancelled appears in many photographer or representative form agreements. However, to be entitled to such relief, there must be a contract with the client.

  In a recent decision in New York Supreme Court, a photographer and his representative, both of whom I represented, were awarded summary judgment for the full amount of a kill fee in which these basic principals were directly in issue.

  My clients had previously completed a photo shoot for the defendant. In that assignment, the representative had submitted an estimate which had been accepted by the client. It called for a Purchase Order to be issued and an advance payment made before the first shoot date. The representative had also placed a stamp confirming the job with a signature line for the client to sign and thus to confirm the job in writing. The client's "authorized representative" did so, and returned it. The assignment was then completed, delivered and paid for.

  The client then asked the photographer to do another shoot. The representative went through the same procedure and, after negotiations, sent its estimate to the client. The client's President initialed his approval as to the dollar amount and the same "authorized representative" who confirmed the first assignment signed this second estimate and returned it to the representative.

  Just before the scheduled shoot date, the client told the representative that the assignment was cancelled. The representative proceeded to bill for a full cancellation fee which the client refused to pay on the grounds that there was never any contract in the first place! In support of this position it argued that no Purchase Order had been issued, no advance paid, that the "authorized representative" was not authorized to bind the company, and that there was no confirmation signature.

  We were able to establish, and the Court concluded, that the representative's estimate was an offer of a contract, and that the client's acts, taken together, constituted an acceptance of this offer.

  Specifically, the Court found that the client's principal confirmed that the signature on the estimate was that of his "authorized representative" who had been given the authority to bind the company on the first assignment, and therefore this authority carried over on the second.

  As to the request for a Purchase Order and advance payment, we established, and the Court agreed, these were not pre-conditions to the contract, but performance issues (to be done before the shoot date), and since the assignment was terminated before the shoot date, these events were separate and apart from the issue of acceptance of the contract.

Want to read more of this article? Go to: http://www.photosource.com/researcher/legal118.html

Each month we report to you moves among, within and between: publishing houses, stock agencies, photobuyers, photo researchers, ad agencies, and design firms.

PEARSON LEARNING (One Lake St, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458) former phone and fax: 1 973 739-8000, 1 201 236-5890; current phone and fax: 1 201 236-5429, 1 201 236-5554.

WISCONSIN TRAILS MAGAZINE, former contact and address: Nancy Mead, Photo Editor, P.O. Box 5650, Madison, WI 53705; current contact and address: Harriet Brown, Photo Editor, P.O. Box 317, Black Earth, WI 53515.

KIDSTUFF PUBLICATIONS, former address: 1080 N. Delaware Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19125; current address: 4623 South Broad St, Philadelphia, PA 19112.

PRONK & ASSOCIATES, former address: One Valleybrook Dr Ste 400, Don Mills, Ontario, M3B 2S7, CANADA; current address: 200 Yorkland Ste 500, Toronto, Ontario, M2J 5C1, CANADA.

SPECTRUM STOCK INC, former address and fax: 33 Main St W 2^nd Fl, Grimsby, Ontario, L3M 1R3, CANADA, 1 905 309-9128; current address, phone and fax: 109 Vanderhoof Ave Ste 214, Toronto, Ontario, M4G 2H7, CANADA, 1 866 317-9672, 1 905 309-9128.

Photobuyers: Watch this column. For the e-mail address, phone or fax number of the traveling photographer, call the PhotoSource International office and ask for Jonna Zehm (1 800 223-3860). For an expansion of this list: www.photosource.com and press the Travelers Abroad button, to learn of past international destinations of our photographers.

Paul Wasserman

December 18 – January 1, 2005

Mexico City, Puebla & Oaxaca

Eric Hegwer

January 3 – January 27, 2005

Paris (France)

Spence Mougin

May 9 – May 17, 2005

Crete

May 18 – May 24, 2005

Santorini

May 24 – May 28, 2005

Vienna

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by Julian Block

In these increasingly tough times, it is more important than ever for freelance entrepreneurs to familiarize themselves with the steps they can take to keep their taxes to the legal minimum -- and, of course, keep themselves out of trouble. To help you take year-round advantage of legitimate breaks while not running afoul of the rules, here is some expert advice on common tax problems. The principals discussed are applicable to freelancers engaged in any of the aspects of the photography and writing fields. If you need additional information or guidance in specific areas, contact the Internal Revenue Service, or consult your personal tax advisor.

u u u

Question: A magazine agreed to pay me $1500 for first rights for a photo story, plus reimbursement of expenses. I delivered the photos, along with my bill for the fee as well as travel, telephone, and other expenses totaling $500, incurred in the course of research. But, because the magazine went bankrupt, I received nothing. I know where the various out-of-pocket expenses go on which lines of Schedule C (Profit or Loss From Business), Form 1040. But what about that unpaid $1500? In the expenses part of Schedule C, the second entry is a line reading "Bad debts from sales of services." Is that where I list my bad-debt deduction for the unpaid $1500?

Answer: No. Unfortunately, despite that line, you cannot take away any deduction for the $1500. The snag: You are what is known as a "cash-basis taxpayer." That is the Internal Revenue designation of individuals (including most of us) who do not have to report payments for photos, assignments, books and other income items until the year that they actually receive them, and do not get to deduct their expenses until the year they pay them. As you did not previously count the $1500 as reportable income, you are not allowed to deduct an equivalent amount. Only if you were an "accrual basis taxpayer" and had previously counted the $1500 as reportable income at the time it became due to you, could you deduct it now, as it has not actually arrived and is a lost cause. But for you, as a cash basis taxpayer, this line on schedule C refers only to money you have actually paid out.

ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) has given its preliminary approval for two new domain names. They are .mobi and .jobs. The .mobi name is intended for wireless users, and .jobs for employment services. The idea behind .mobi is to provide a domain that developers can use in creating websites specifically targeted to mobile devices (phones, Palms, Blackberries and the like), and mobile users could have their own email addresses associated with their portables. Last October, ICANN also preliminarily approved .post (for postal services) and .travel (for travel businesses). Next step is for ICANN to negotiate with candidate registrars and work out any technical difficulties.

Want to read more of this article? Go to: http://www.photosource.com/researcher/onlin153.html

From Edward Steichen to Ansel Adams, creative people have long been attempting to convince the public that their artwork is, well, art. Collectors have listened. Investors have paid attention. Little by little, over the decades, the public has been buying.

What of Clip Art Photos? Do they have a place in the annals of art?

Why not? Mass-produced artwork from earlier decades is now beginning to attract high fees. Example: original artwork panels from early Walt Disney cartoons such as Snow White. Norman Rockwell, the favorite mid-20th century American magazine illustrator, appealed to millions of readers monthly on the covers of the Saturday Evening Post. No one thought of him as a fine artist at the time, but Rockwell's original illustrations are now commanding big figures.

We tend to think if artwork is plentiful, it should be disposable, and therefore not worth much. History has shown us that some "disposable" art survives. It could happen to "some" of the Royalty Free photos. -RE

When you need advice from an attorney, be sure to locate one who works regularly in the area of intellectual property, and especially with photography issues. Otherwise you’re opening your checkbook to educate the lawyer. Areas that you may wish to define are: copyrights, that protect the expression of an idea in a "fixed and discernible medium" (which photos are); trademarks (they serve to identify the source of goods in the market); and patents, which are usually for mechanical devices or chemical processes. -RE

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"I've read every issue of PRNewsletter since the first one, and still look forward to it each month. It provides me with motivation, info on new trends, new tools, (changes in personnel). I regularly recommend it (and your other services) to both aspiring and established stock photographers."

- Dennis Light, Chicago

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Watch for developments in the field of stock photography in PhotoResearcher's

PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE NEWS

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You'll be the first to know...

Note: If the URL is long, it may extend to two lines. In that case - clicking on it won't work. Instead, "copy and paste" the URL.

JupiterImages Launches a Groundbreaking New IMAGE SERVICE -

RightsProtectedImages.com is the first image service to license exclusive

worldwide rights with a simple process and at an affordable price.

http://www.creativepro.com/story/news/22417.html

Zooming in again on digital photography - The purpose of this minitutorial

is to help you (and me) understand a little more about how digital cameras

work, so that we can make better CHOICES about what camera to use and how to

create better-quality photos.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002157743_ptgett22.html

The best pictures came from my own BACKYARD - I have always known that my

backyard was valuable resource, but maybe I took it for granted. I wasted

all this gas in my truck in hopes that I just might find something better.

But it is all right here. Bird photography is my favorite and I have the

best of it in my backyard.

http://www.cantondailyledger.com/articles/2005/01/22/news/news6.txt

Local photographer's shot graces National Geographic, for second time - A

successful career as a WILDLIFE photographer sounds exciting, but it can be

grueling. Cox often spends 10 months a year on the road.

http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2005/01/23/features/outdoors/cox.txt

Fascinating, frightening glimpses of urban density - Michael Wolf has lived

in HONG KONG and has cultivated a unique vision of it. Ignoring the drama of

the city's natural setting, he has turned his camera on the "architecture of

density," as he calls it: the high-rises of crushing uniformity built in

response to overcrowding in one of the world's most expensive cities.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/01/22/DDGMSAT56U1.DTL&type=art

Freelance Photography - How to Begin Your CAREER.

http://www.bytecamera.com/content/view/238/2/

Can you use photography? - Like any other TOOL, photography is a servant of

mankind. Because it is, in effect, a mirror to reality, its services span

the range of human needs, both practical and emotional.

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20050116/arts/arts1.html

A master of the camera

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lfcov0123,0,2530750.story?coll=ny-liminute-headlines

PORTRAITS OF CONTEMPORARIES ON DISPLAY IN MOSCOW PHOTOGRAPHY HOUSE

http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=5337722&startrow=1&date=2005-01-24&do_alert=0

Technical funds are well-spent: $15K grant will assist SCHOOL photo program

http://www.milforddailynews.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=63978

A celebrity auction featuring ``Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' star

Chow Yun-Fat's photography as well as personal items from other Hong

Kong stars raised $36,200 for TSUNAMI relief.

http://dailynews.muzi.com/ll/english/1346057.shtml

Lensman focuses on RETIREMENT after 45 years

http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/photo/2005/01jan/050124alan.shtml

The Art of Business: Those Forgettable FUNDEMENTALS - What are the secrets

of a successful business? http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/22402.html

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PhotoRESEARCHER Newsletter is a free newsletter for photo researchers. It features carefully researched coverage of trends, methods and the latest information that can help you in your photo research. Feel free to forward this issue of the PhotoRESEARCHER Newsletter to fellow photo researcher friends.

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## PhotoRESEARCHER Newsletter monthly newsletter is produced by PhotoSource International, Rohn Engh, Director, who is solely responsible for its contents.

For information about PhotoSource International:

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To make a photo listing:

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or 1 800 624 0266

ask for Jonna Zehm

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413

Next Month: Falling in Love with Photography