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PhotoRESEARCHER |
PhotoRESEARCHER
Newsletter for May## 428 |
| KEY WORDS: Orphan Works | Copyright Office
| Picture Professionals | Royalty-Free | Subscription Services | Micropayment
Site | Sewing Machine | Travelers Abroad | Stealing | Thievery | Digital
Images | Copyright Maturity | Newspapers |
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Copyright Office Concludes Study of "Orphan Works" and Proposes Legislation
As I previously reported in February 2005, the Copyright Office, in response
to a Notice of Inquiry from Congress, examined issues raised in connection with
"Orphan Works.” This term is used to describe the situation where
the owner of a copyrighted work cannot be identified and located by someone
who wishes to make use of the work in a manner that requires permission of the
copyright owner.
The Copyright Office received over 850 written initial and reply comments from
the public and held three days of round table discussions. In addition, it met
informally with various organizations in what was called an effort to explore
more specific issues raised. The Copyright Office has now issued its Report
on Orphan Works which is a culmination of these efforts.
The conclusions reached were that the Orphan Works problem is real; it is elusive
to qualify and describe comprehensively; some situations may be addressed by
existing copyright law but many are not; and that legislation is necessary to
provide a meaningful solution to the Orphan Works problem as we know it today.
As a result, the Copyright Office has recommended that the Copyright Act be
amended to provide a solution to this problem. The proposed amendment follows
the core concept that many commentators favored as a solution. This core concept
is that, if the user has performed a reasonably diligent search for the copyright
owner but is unable to locate that owner, then that user should enjoy a benefit
of limiting the remedies acopyright owner could otherwise obtain against them
if the owner showed up at a later date and sued for infringement.
Thus the Copyright Office recommendation has two main components:
1. The threshold requirement of a reasonably diligent search; and
2. A limitation of remedies available if the user proves a reasonably diligent
search was in fact conducted.
The proposed legislation does not define the term Orphan Work. Instead it refers
to "a good faith, reasonably diligent search to locate the owner of the
infringed copyright and the infringer did not locate that owner.” It should
be noted that once an owner is actually located, the work is no longer considered
to be an Orphan Work and the proposed legislation would be inapplicable.
In blustery winter storms in the last century, farmers out here
in northern Wisconsin used to tie a long rope between the farmhouse and the
barn. During a blizzard, without holding onto the rope, a person could get lost
in the whiteness just trying to get over to the house or barn. The rope was
a life saver.
Do picture professionals need a similar lifeline today, in the face of the storms
within the stock industry?
The “storms,” of course, for stock photography professionals, are
the introduction of Royalty-Free, subscription services, and micropayment sites
on the Internet, along with digital cameras, which together with bandwidth on
the Internet, have introduced new ways of supplying images to formerly sleeping
segments of the marketplace. Once the price of photos came down, the market
expanded, thanks to technology and the innovative spirit of both buyers and
sellers.
The only guideline we need for these storms of change (“Are we out of
the storm yet?”) is history. The invention of the sewing machine did not
put the seamstress out of business. Those who could not afford hand-tailored
clothing in the past could now own three or four dresses. This technology phenomenon
repeats itself as any industry adapts and progresses.
And how have they fared – the managed-rights photographers who had a monopoly
on the industry in the 80’s and 90’s? Are they out in the cold or
have they ridden along with the flow and adapted?
SAME OL’ SAME OL’
The equation hasn’t changed all that much. In the 80’s,
the market for stock photos was small, and commercial stock photographers were
selling RM photos for $1,000, while editorial photographers were selling and
re-selling the same picture 20 times for $50 each time. Postal delivery of images
was sufficient.
Want to read more of this article? Go to: http://www.photosource.com/researcher/gen711.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 Lela Labree (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. Jim West Cedar Bough Saeji Lee Snider Earl Martinelli
There’s an element of human nature involved here: Trust. Back when our family first got here to the farm, the nearest grocery
store was (still is) the Horse Creek Store. Fred Nelson would stand behind
the counter and retrieve the products you wanted from the shelves. It’s
not that he didn’t trust his customers. He was giving them service.
It had always been done that way. A few years later when supermarkets
were introduced, I asked Fred if he thought customers would walk out of
supermarkets with products in their pockets without paying. Want to read more of this article? Go to: http://www.photosource.com/researcher/07ml21.html
CHANGES Each month we report to you moves among, within and between: publishing
houses, stock agencies, photobuyers, photo researchers, ad agencies, and
design firms.
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More On Copyright & Long-Term Value of Photographs Many photographers view the worth of their photos primarily as being
the immediate compensation they receive from a magazine, book publisher
or assignment client. Want to read more of this article? Go to: http://www.photosource.com/researcher/gen314.html ------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------ Watch for developments in the field of stock photography in PhotoResearcher's 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. SA photographer sent packing - Namibia has given the marching orders
to three FRENCH PAPARAZZIS and a South African photographer for trying
to snap Angelina Jolie.
Story ideas and SELF-MOTIVATED inspiration - A lot of ideas come from
word of mouth, so it's important to be expanding and maintaining your
network of contacts, including the people you've met during assignments,
and the people you've worked for previously. PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST looks at salmon, watersheds - The purpose of the
contest -- which focuses on salmon and watersheds on the North Coast --
is to bring the community together by fostering an appreciation and respect
of healthy, diverse landscapes and wildlife through photography. Hot shots: Refco fire sale to raise $5m at Christie's - "The works
provide a highly influential review of CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY and its
developing role as a fine art medium," said Joshua Holdeman, international
director of Christie's photographs department. PERU VOLCANO Spews Deadly Ash - Locals have been wearing face masks to
keep from breathing ashes and fumes, and some have even bestowed the protection
on their livestock, as seen in the above image of a calf. CORBIS Taps Former Y&R ECD for Senior Post.
Bell Gallery EXHIBIT TRACES FACES of 20th-century America. World PHOTO SHOW in Bahrain. The World Press Photo Exhibition 2006 will
be held in Bahrain from May 4-22.This will be the second time that Bahrain
will host this traveling exhibition of more than 200 photographs from
the largest global press photography competition The ART OF PHOTOGRAPHY Show, An International Exhibition" 2006-04-20
until 2006-06-04. UpperCut Images Signs Photographer Dave Nagel - UpperCut Images, an exclusive rights-protected stock photography agency owned by royalty-free stock photo agency PunchStock, proudly announces the addition of photographer Dave Nagel to its roster of distinguished top photographers. http://www.creativepro.com/story/news/24183.html Artzooks Extends Reward Incentive Program - Artzooks.com is home to over
1,000,000 stock images and features many of the world's most popular royalty
free brands, including Corbis, Getty Images, Photodisc, Digital Vision,
Stockbyte, Comstock, Brand X Images and more. |
New!
THE PARENT'S GUIDE TO PHOTOGRAPHING
CHILDREN AND FAMILIES:
Simple Techniques for Beautiful Digital Portraits (Digital Quick Guides
series), by Kathleen Hawkins.
THE PARENT'S GUIDE TO PHOTOGRAPHING CHILDREN AND
FAMILIES: Simple Techniques for Beautiful
Digital Portraits (Digital Quick Guides series), by Kathleen Hawkins.
White Mailers Sending a disk or slides? Look like a pro. Stiff white
cardboard mailers are available at: MAILERS, 575 Bennett Rd, Elk Grove
Village, IL 60007, Attn: Pat Pulver;
http://www.mailerco.com . Phone: 1 800 872-6670. Fax: 1 847 731-2603.
THE BOOK OF PHOTOGRAPHY :
The History, the Technique, the Art, the Future, by Anne H. Hoy. http://www.photosourcefolio.com
PUBLISHING A BLOG WITH BLOGGER:
Visual QuickProject Guide, by Elizabeth Castro. http://www.photosourcefolio.com
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