## PhotoRESEARCHER Newsletter for June 2005 ##

## PhotoRESEARCHER Newsletter for June ## 417

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

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COURT DISMISSES COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT CLAIM FOR LACK OF REGISTRATION

by Joel Hecker, Esq

The Copyright Act expressly states that a copyright owner may not commence a lawsuit for copyright infringement until the underlying work is registered with the Copyright Office or such registration is refused. A recent decision in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York recently expounded on this subject.

The case, Greene v. Columbia Records/Sony Music Entertainment, Inc., involved allegations of infringement in the music industry, but the rulings apply equally as well to photography.

The plaintiff, James Anthony Greene, who represented himself and did not have an attorney, brought an action for copyright infringement, alleging that the defendant used his original music composition in an album without his authorization and without payment.

After resolution of various procedural issues, Columbia Records moved to dismiss the complaint because the plaintiff had failed to register, or even allege that he had registered, his copyright with the Copyright Office. The Court granted the plaintiff time to amend his complaint to allege the necessary elements of registration, without which the Court does not have jurisdiction to hear the case.

Plaintiff did file an amended complaint but only alleged that he had initiated the process – that he had filed the application and paid the fee. He failed to allege that the Copyright Office had acted on his application. By the time the Court heard the motion to dismiss, more months had passed and plaintiff still had not indicated whether the Copyright Office had taken any action.

The Court did acknowledge that there are other cases which hold that the mere filing of an application is sufficient for the Court to obtain jurisdiction because the Court eventually has such jurisdiction whether the Copyright Office accepts or rejects the application. The Court, however, declined to follow that approach. In discussing the law, it held that since the statutory language requires the Copyright Office to act on an application and not just receive it, the better reading of the statute was to require registration or a refusal to register in order for the Court to maintain jurisdiction to hear the case.

The Court, therefore, dismissed the complaint without prejudice. This means that the plaintiff can sue again once he has gotten, or been refused, a certificate of registration.

What are the lessons of the case? First, carefully check all statutory requirements before suing, and make sure you comply. Second, if the Judge (or anyone else) gives you a roadmap (i.e. he tells you why the original complaint was deficient), make sure you follow it!

Attorney Joel L. Hecker lectures and writes extensively on issues of concern to the photography industry. His office is located at Russo & Burke, 600 Third Ave, New York NY 10016. Phone: 1 212 557-9600. E-mail: HeckerEsq@aol.com.

The "Uncopyrighting" (sharing) of your work…

COPYRIGHT: IT’S GREY, BLACK,

WHITE AND IN-BETWEEN.

Yes, Copyright is a colorful subject. It’s also controversial, especially when you are involving artists, photographers, writers -- the whole intellectual properties community-- in the discussion arena.

Here at Photosource International, we take a place at the table not on one side or the other (researchers, art directors vs. photographers) but in the middle. We are the place where photo suppliers meet with photobuyers. One day we might talk about infringers on the Internet, the next day it might be "the sharing of ideas to contribute toward progress for us all."

That’s the theme today, and I use Open Source software as my example.

Remember the days when AT&T was the only game in town? We were impressed with its telephonic wizardry, but not until diversification of the telephone giant, did we realize what we had been missing out on in the way of telephone service, lower fees, and innovations.

Want to read more of this article? Go to: http://www.photosource.com/researcher/trnte85.html

TRAVELERS ABROAD

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.

Doug Nurock

April 19 – April 28, 2005

Costa Rica

Jim and Mary Whitmer

April 26 – May 9, 2005

France

Christopher McCrary

April 28 – May 12, 2005

London, Manchester, Liverpool, Scotland

Derek Brown

May 29 – July 1, 2005

Ethiopia

July 2 – July 22, 2005

Madagascar

July 23 – July 31, 2005

Kenya

August 1 – August 15, 2005

Oman

August 16 – September 1, 2005

Sri Lanka

Alison Jones

August 18 – September 24, 2005

Ethiopia and Kenya

CHANGES

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

LATINA MAGAZINE (1500 Broadway, 7^th Fl, New York, NY 10036) former contact and e-mail: Diana Santana, Photo Researcher, dsantana@latina.com ; current contact and e-mail: Deborah Hardt, Photo Researcher, dhardt@latina.com .

ARIZONA AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION HIGHROADS (PO Box 33119, Phoenix, AZ 85067-3119) former contact and phone: Rebeca Antioco, Publications Editor, 1 602 650-2733; current contact and phone: Eve Gonzalis, Publications Editor, 1 602 650-2738.

JEWISH MONTHLY (2020 K St. NW, 7^th Fl, Washington, DC 20036) former contact, phone and e-mail: Richard Greenberg, Managing Editor, 1 202 857-6699, rgreenberg@bnaibrith.org ; current contact and phone: Mark Wright, Art Director, 1 202 857-6516.

VIRGINIA WILDLIFE (4010 W. Broad St, Richmond, VA 23230) contact person, Emily Pels, Art Director. Former e-mail: epels@dgif.state.va.us ; current e-mail: Emily.pels@dgif.virginia.gov .

CENTER FOR A NEW AMERICAN DREAM (6930 Carroll Ave, Ste 900, Takoma Park, MD 20912) former contact and e-mail: Eric Brown, Communications Director, eric@newdream.org ; current contact and e-mail: Sarah Roberts, Communications Director, sarah@newdream.org .

LERNER PUBLISHING (241 1^st Ave N, Minneapolis, MN 55401) former contact, phone and e-mail: Renee Weddle, Photo Researcher, 1 800 328-4929, rweddle@lernerbooks.com ; current contact and phone: Tim O’Regan, Photo Researcher, 1 612 332-3344.

THE POSTCARD FACTORY (2801 John St, Markham, Ontario, L3R Y8, CANADA) former contact and e-mail: Gerard Romary, Director of Photography, gerardromany@postcardfactory.com ; current contact and e-mail: September Hall, Director of Photography, shall@postcardfactory.com .

THE CREATIVE COMPANY (123 S Broad St, Mankato, MN 56002) former contact: Bobbie Nuytten, Photo Researcher; current contact: Cathy Tatge, Photo Researcher.

BOATING WORLD MAGAZINE (2100 Powers Ferry Rd, Ste 300, Atlanta, GA 30339) former contact and e-mail: Julie Baker, Art Director, jbaker@billian.com ; current contact and e-mail: Mathew Montgomery, Art Director, mmontgomery@billian.com .

HARVARD COMMON PRESS (535 Albany St, Boston, MA 02118) former contact and e-mail: Jodi Marchowsky, Production Editor, jmarchowsky@harvardcommonpress.com ; current contact and e-mail: Abby Collier, Production Editor, acollier@harvardcommonpress.com .

AVALON TRAVEL PUBLISHING (1400 65^th St #250, Emeryville, CA 94608) former contact and e-mail: Deb Dutcher, Production Assistant, deb.dutcher@avalonpub.com ; current contact and e-mail: Stefano Boni, Production Assistant, Stefano.boni@avalonpub.com .

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This week's featured photographer on PhotoSourceFolio:

Charles Dewey (http://www.photosourcefolio.com)

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TREND NOTES
Where's That Refund?

Your 2004 refund check is less apt to go astray if it is deposited directly into your bank account.

The Internal Revenue Service is already hunting for 87,500 taxpayers owed $73 million in tax refunds, whose checks could not be delivered last year. In most cases, the taxpayers moved but failed to notify the IRS, which does not forward refund checks.

Taxpayers can track undelivered refunds or get change-of-address forms online at www.irs.gov (search for "Where's My Refund?") or by calling (800) 829-1954.

TAX TACTICS

THE HIGH COST OF TOGETHERNESS

by Julian Block, Esq

Just about all of the people who rack up frequent flyer miles fall into two categories. Either their jobs require lots of travel or they are vacationers.

But an ever-growing number of them are "commuter couples" who live apart in an effort to keep their jobs or advance their careers. By one estimate, more than 1 million wives work and maintain homes in one city, while their husbands do likewise in another city. With more women launching careers and advancing into positions of greater responsibility, the number is likely to keep increasing, notwithstanding the delays caused by heightened security measures imposed after the terrorist attacks on Sep.11.

Understandably, the minuses outweigh the pluses for dual-career couples who live apart for the sake of their jobs. Yes, those who have honed their time-management skills find it easier nowadays than previously to make the commuting workable, with careers becoming more mobile and workweeks more flexible. In fact, these being the harried times they are, a good many working partners in long-distance marriages now spend as much time together as their stay-at-home counterparts.

Nevertheless, few couples favor living apart. Add up the inconvenience, expense, strains to career and family, and the arrangement seems to defeat the reason for getting hitched. And if all the social and emotional troubles associated with separations from loved ones were not enough, throw in some troublesome tax issues for commuter couples. Particularly the way the Internal Revenue Service defines the location of their "tax home," and how that usually derails deductibility of travel expenses.

The IRS unreservedly blesses business-expense deductions of 100 percent for lodging and 50 percent for meals when travelers are on a trip that takes them "away from home" overnight. But buried in the fine print is the IRS definition of "home": It is where a person's principal place of business or employment is located, even though his or her family or spouse resides elsewhere.

Want to read more of this article? Go to: http://www.photosource.com/researcher/txtct104.html

ON-LINE

by Bill Hopkins

Microsoft Expands Windows Piracy Check

If you've recently tried to download software from Microsoft for your Windows XP or 2000 computer, you've probably been faced with the "click here to validate your software" option. It's Microsoft's way of trying to ensure that you have a legitimate copy of the Operating System (OS) and not a bootleg copy. Microsoft calls it, Windows Genuine Advantage. Microsoft says that Windows Automatic Updates will not require validation, nor will security patches at the Download Center. This checking mechanism claims to be anonymous. It includes an ActiveX control you have to download and install. Then you enter your Product Key (that 24-character code usually found on a sticker on your computer or on the Windows CD sleeve). The key is then confirmed as valid with the Microsoft Product Activation Service. Gee, I wonder what else is tied to that number. Maybe your name, address, and telephone number if you previously registered with Microsoft? All of this in the name of anti-piracy. And, what if you really didn't know that your copy of Windows was pirated, perhaps because you bought your computer from a shady on-line storefront or from somebody down the street? Users who discover that they have a pirated copy of Windows will be offered a genuine version of Windows at a discount, says Microsoft.

Will Digital Photos Be Next?

Many of Hollywood's (and other) movies are distributed for home use on DVDs. They are just like what you see in the theater, with maybe some cut scenes restored, and other features. What if you really like the movie, but don't care for the graphic scenes, or certain violent parts, or spats of "bad" language, or are offended by parts of it? Or, maybe you'd like your kids to see it, but with the "bad" stuff cut out. There are devices that will let you mute or skip those sections, and some companies sell "sanitized" versions of the movie. Of course, the movie industry is not too happy, claiming in lawsuits that such manipulation amounts to violation of their copyright, which of course it does. Well, there is more to this story, but the bottom line is that President Bush signed into law the "Family Entertainment and Copyright Act" (nice name, huh?) privately and without comment. The new law creates an exemption to the copyright laws specifically allowing companies to sell this filtering technology without fear of being sued. One company to benefit is called ClearPlay, which sells hundreds of filters that can be added to compatible DVD players. The law also is supposed to crack down on those who sell edited versions of the movies, those who use video cameras to record first-run movies directly from the movie-house screen, and anyone caught distributing a movie or song before its commercial release. In my opinion, we don't need these kinds of exceptions to the Copyright Act. If you think you'll be offended by the movie, just don't watch it.

Want to read more of this article? Go to: http://www.photosource.com/researcher/onlin157.html

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Need the answer to a tax question?

Use the free IRS hot-line. Best time to call is

Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. 1-800-829-1040.

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LOOK LIKE A PRO when mailing your next print, ad, or disk: The "Way Less" envelope stiffener will not only create a high-tech look to your project but save you more than fifty cents in postage on an average mailing. (They pay for themselves!)

Made of extruded sheets of stiff corrugated polypropylene, the "Way Less" envelope stiffeners are lint and dust free, and unlike cardboard are impervious to moisture. Available in all popular envelope sizes. To learn more, order, or request a free sample, visit: www.envelopestiffeners.com

The Largest Stock Photo Agency in the World
WHO IS THE BIGGEST?
Do you know who has emerged as the

largest stock photo agency in the world?

No longer do photobuyers who seek hard-to-locate pictures rely on the antiquated methods of the last century to find photos. However, those methods are still used today by classic stock photo agencies. You know which ones: Getty, Corbis, et al. No, they are not the largest stock agencies in the world. They represent only a small fraction of the stock photos that reside in the worldwide databases of photographers. And search engines are now leaving the outdated systems of those agencies in the dust.

The largest stock agency is the Internet + Search Engines + the Independent Photographer. Increasing numbers of photobuyers are finding out they can easily locate the source of the exact photo they need by simply using a search engine such as Google, and typing in one or more words describing the photo they need. * [If they also add a space and then the word ‘photosource’, they will come to the private website of a photographer or photographers on the PhotoSourceBANK who have listed their allotted 3,000 words photo descriptions/captions]. > www.photosource.com/bank <.

How large is this directory of photographs? You be the judge. Figure out how many individual photographers now have digitized their collections and presently make them available to photobuyers via the Internet. If your calculations are similar to mine, you’ll estimate there are presently at least 450 million images search/available on the Internet. By the year 2010 there will be three times that number. Getty and Corbis will never catch up.

Rohn Engh is director of PhotoSource International. info@photosource.com

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*Savvy photobuyers know not to use the Google Images section of the Google service or a similar database. This system directs them only to sub par images that also often present complicated copyright issues. More and more buyers know to use the "text" option of the Google search bar, and type in their photo need description plus ‘photosource’ to locate quality stock photos with ease of transaction.

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.

Three Faces of SELF-PROMOTION - A designer, a photographer, and an

illustrator/printer/retailer share how they've become successful.

http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/22970.html

Film, camera maker AGFA files for bankruptcy - Hit by the shift to

digital photography, AgfaPhoto GmbH, a maker of film and disposable cameras,

filed for bankruptcy-court protection Friday.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1117239387409_32/

HP's online photo service Snapfish CUTTING PRICES - Snapfish is cutting

prices on digital photography prints by as much as 45 percent, as the

world's No. 1 personal computer printer maker angles for a larger share of

the fast-growing but still nascent market.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050526/tc_nm/tech_hewlettpackard_snapfish_dc_2

Getty's Acquisition Of Photonica Gets Mixed Reviews - Two weeks after

hearing that GETTY Images had purchased Photonica and Iconica from the Amana

Group, stock photographers and picture buyers are still trying to figure out

what it all means for the industry.

http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/newswire/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000937270

Creative Fuel: Weaving a SELF-PROMOTION Web - Are you thinking about making a Web site to promote your business? Or are you dissatisfied with the site you already have? http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/22964.html

Tyson Says PETA Photographer Violated Company Rules - Poultry producer Tyson

Foods said Wednesday that it will investigate allegations of INHUMANE

chicken slaughter, but the company contends that an undercover animal-rights

photographer apparently violated company policies by videotaping what he

should have been preventing.

http://www.thehometownchannel.com/news/4532748/detail.html

Museum gets $4 million to train more photo CONSERVATORS - The George Eastman

House museum of photography has bagged a $4 million gift to extend its

pioneering academic program in photograph conservation _ a very rare

specialty devoted to safeguarding the world's most treasured pictures.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--photoconservation0527may27,0,2702167.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork

Subscriber KEVIN FLEMING debuts 'The Hear of America - "The Heart of

America," has just been selected as one of America's 100 Best by the May

issue of "Reader's Digest." Fleming claims the key to unlocking America's

secrets is in taking the road less traveled.

http://www.capegazette.com/storiescurrent/0505/flemingkevin052005.html

Deadline Extended For Mac Design Conference Film Festival

Mac Design Conference & Digital Photography Expo

http://www.digitalvideoediting.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=32679

Program joins archaeology, photography

"ARCHAEOLOGY and Images: Photographing Southeastern Utah."

http://www.cortezjournal.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article_path=/news/05/news050526_11.htm

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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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Hard to find qualified photographers? They're reading our weekly newsletter, PhotoStockNotes. Reach them cost effectively at. . . http://www.photosource.com/psb

Now you can search back issues of PhotoRESEARCHER Newsletter. On your Web browser go to: http://www.sellphotos.com/search/prsearch.html then type in your keyword.

Reproducing or copying photoRESEARCHER Newsletter for non-private purposes is not permitted without written consent of the publisher, except for review purposes where source credit is given.

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

For information about PhotoSource International:

http://search.photosource.com

To make a photo listing:

(no charge)

1 800 223 3860 or 1 800 624 0266

ask for Jonna Zehm

eds@photosource.com

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Next Month: Finding Photographers