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Articles from August 2012
Travel photographers take note.
Wikimedia Commons thinks there are not enough free images available on the web. So they are running a contest to build their image database that already contains 13.6 million photos and illustrations.
No one likes to see their images used without compensation, particularly if the use is on a site that generates revenue for the user.
PicScout, a company that searches the web for images found in the collections of professional image distributor, says that 85% of the images they find on commercial sites are unauthorized uses (either never licensed, or used beyond the license). This article deals with what you should do to locate images that have been infringed and to receive compensation.
For some time professional image suppliers and many educational publishers have been at odds over unlicensed use of images. Image creators and suppliers claim they have not been properly compensated for the use of some images while publishers either try to hide the unauthorized uses or argue that what they have done is not copyright infringement. Now publishers and image creators are on the same side against alleged infringer
Boundless Learning.
Kodak has announced plans to sell off its Personalized Imaging business unit which includes Kodak cameras, print kiosks, and consumer-grade film. In short, Kodak will no longer make any photographic items for the everyday consumer.
Photographers can now build their own portfolio and presentation apps for iPad and iPhone without the necessity of learning to code. Appafolio Biz and Appafolio Plus provide an application tool that lets the photographer produce and display slideshows, galleries and videos.
Pocketstock has created a new pricing strategy call Bidder that enables each customer to establish the price he or she is willing to pay for a royalty free image.
Google has made a change in its search algorithm that may discourage web site creators from using unlicensed photos. Such use could result in their entire site appearing lower in search rankings and thus seldom, if ever, seen as a result of a Google search.
According to Advertising Age measured ad spending for the top 100 biggest advertisers dropped 0.2% for the first half of 2012 compared to 2011. While there was a small increase in spending for TV it did not make up for the losses experienced by newspapers and magazines. Check out some of the other marketing trends.
Can today’s music photographers hope to shoot images that are as striking as those of the pop stars from the 50s to the 90s? Or will developments like tighter restrictions for concert photographers, and artists wanting greater image control, mean that today’s music stars will leave a legacy of bland, boring images for future generations? While creating the Pop and Rock
showcase from the Alamy collection, I was struck by how the images of the latest bands didn’t quite have the resonance and iconic status of the documentary coverage of bands and pop stars of earlier eras who often enthralled audiences with their antics, charisma, rampant exhibitionism and on-stage posturing. Photographers helped create those legends.
The American Society of Media Photographers (
ASMP) has created a free Model/Property Release app for iOS (iPhone and iPad) that makes it easy for photographers to enter their own and the models information. The forms require that a photo of the model be attached to the release before it can be completed. Once the form is filled out the model, the photographer and a witness can each sign the form using their finger or a pen in the same manner as electronic credit card purchases are normally signed. Then, a PDF of the completed release can be emailed to the photographer and the model.
Citizen Stock has launched a royalty-free collection of over 10,000 images of real people and their emotions. Created by assignment photographers Sherrie Nickol and David Katzenstein, a husband and wife team, Citizen Stock (
www.citizenstock.com) is one of the first stock photo agencies devoted solely to portraiture of “real people.” The models aren’t professional models, but children, moms, dads, grandparents, skateboarders, lawyers, teachers, musicians, chefs, artists, office workers, clothing designers, and small business owners, to name a few.
On its
Google Drive cloud storage service Google has added a feature that will allow its customers to use
Thinkstock photos for FREE. They are currently asking their customers to suggest photos that they would like to see included in this gallery of free photos.
The Carlyle Group (
NASDAQ: CG) and Getty Images management announced today they have formed a partnership to acquire Getty Images, Inc., from Hellman & Friedman for $3.3 billion. Carlyle will acquire slightly over 50% of the company. Getty Images Co-Founder and Chairman Mark Getty and the Getty family will roll substantially all of their ownership interests into the transaction. CEO and co-founder Jonathan Klein will also invest equity in the company.
In the following article, first posted on
Visual Connections, Michael Masterson, President of
American Society of Picture Professionals (ASPP), and a natural networker offers three tips for the imaging professional on the importance of networking, and how to go about it.
In November 2010 the UK government called for an independent review of the Intellectual Property laws and practices. Among the recommendations in a report submitted by Professor Ian Hargreaves and a panel of experts in May 2011 was the creation of a
Digital Copyright Exchange. Next, was
another study that offers some workable solutions to the problems addressed in the first report. Sarah Saunders has examined this latest effort.
We recently reported on
Foap.com, a Swedish site where photographers can sell pictures they take using their cellphones. Now the developers of the Finnish company
Scoopshot, which offers a similar service, tell us that their best selling photographers, Arto Mäkelä, has earned more than $19,000 from pictures he ha taken on his Android smartphone and uploaded to the free-to-download Scoopshot app.
Water Rights Images has retained Visual Steam to build and manage a team of experienced licensing professionals on an ongoing basis.
On Wednesday in Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York a jury found after a seven-day trial that educational publisher John Wiley & Sons was liable for willful copyright infringement of two photos taken by Louis Psihoyos.
Photononstop Group, based in Paris, announces the purchase of 100% of the shares in
Biosphoto, France’s leading stock agency specialized in Nature, Garden and Environment Photography. The Biosphoto collection contains 2.5 million photos and 20,000 videos. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
For some years we’ve seen a decline in rights managed and traditional royalty free prices. If you look at the price calculators of major distributors it might appear that prices haven’t declined all that much. The problem is that nobody pays those prices.
SuperStock has announced that Alan Bailey will assume the role of CEO and departing CEO, Lanny Ziering will take over the position of Chairman of RGB Ventures, the parent company of SuperStock. Mr. Ziering will focus on acquisitions, strategic alliances, and emerging technologies as the company focuses on expansion.