Associations

2018 DMLA Conference in LA

By Jim Pickerell | 545 Words | Posted 8/7/2018 | Comments
The annual Digital Media Licensing Association (DMLA) conference will be held in Los Angeles this year on October 21-23, 2018 at the Marriott Marina del Rey Hotel. The hotel is within walking distance of the vibrant and eclectic Venice Beach and just a short drive from the gorgeous Santa Monica Beach.

Will EU’s Article 13 Help Photographers?

By Jim Pickerell | 855 Words | Posted 6/25/2018 | Comments
Last week, the European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs approved amendments to the EU’s Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market. EU’s Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market. Among the amendments approved was Article 13.

CEPIC Congress Coming In Berlin

By Jim Pickerell | 263 Words | Posted 4/25/2018 | Comments
It’s about a month before the 2018 CEPIC Congress, the premier annual meeting of commercial still and moving image suppliers, will take place from 30 May to 1 June at the Maritim proArte hotel in Berlin. Currently 250 delegates from 150 companies and 29 countries are scheduled to attend.

Trade Organizations In Europe Call On EU To Stop Framing

By Jim Pickerell | 1164 Words | Posted 3/15/2018 | Comments
In a joint letter to the European Parliament Legal Affairs Committee these trade organizations CEPIC, EFJ, EVA, and Pyramide Europe are calling European legislators to urgently correct the theory of law used by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) involving the use of framing/embedding technology on the Internet.

Visual Connections For Sale

By Jim Pickerell | 585 Words | Posted 10/25/2017 | Comments
After ten years running Visual Connections LLC, co-owners Deborah Free and Edward Leigh have decided to make it available for acquisition.

Stock Photo Prices: The Future

By Jim Pickerell | 1277 Words | Posted 9/28/2017 | Comments
This story is FREE. Feel free to pass it along to anyone interested in licensing their work as stock photography. On October 23rd at the DMLA 2017 Conference in New York there will be a panel discussion on Stock Photo Prices and whether there is anything that can be done to raise them -- even slightly. I will moderate the discussion.

Can Prices Be Raised?

By Jim Pickerell | 1139 Words | Posted 9/14/2017 | Comments
In a little over a month I will be moderating a panel discussion at the DMLA 2017 Conference in New York on the subject Prices: Can We Raise Them? Stock photo prices have been declining for years, partially due to oversupply. Must prices continue to fall? Is there a strategy for charging more, to enough customers, that production of new images will become a viable business option for more producers? If so, how? What’s the strategy? If not, will that impact contributor supply? What alternatives are there for agencies to grow their business?”

Demand For Assistance In Pursuing Copyright Abuse Increases

By Jim Pickerell | 504 Words | Posted 8/16/2017 | Comments
Increasingly, image creators are turning to online service providers to provide assistance and support in pursuing copyright abuse. Copytrack is seeing rising customer demand in both Japan and the U.S. Marcus Schmitt, Copytrack CEO, attributes the heightened demand to the Berlin-based portal’s strong international involvement in Asian and US congresses, and associations, such as Japan Professional Photographer Society and the Digital Media Licensing Association in New York.

Photo Week In New York

By Jim Pickerell | 506 Words | Posted 7/7/2017 | Comments
It’s time to start thinking about Photo Week in New York, October 22nd through 28th. It all starts with the Digital Media Licensing Association (DMLA) conference beginning Sunday night through Tuesday. Then on Wednesday the 25th is Visual Connections. Technically, the PhotoPlus International Conference + Expo begins on Wednesday the 25th, but the trade show doesn’t really open until Thursday the 26th and runs for three full days through the 28th.

CEPIC 2017 Takeaways

By Jim Pickerell | 1382 Words | Posted 6/21/2017 | Comments
I’ve just returned from the 2017 CEPIC Congress in Berlin. Here are eight of my takeaways from the conference.

New CEPIC Executive Board (2017-2019)

By Jim Pickerell | 64 Words | Posted 6/21/2017 | Comments
On June 14th a new CEPIC executive board was elected to serve two years terms. Alfonso Gutierrez of AGE Fotostock, current president of CEPIC was elected to another two year term.

Future Growth Potential For Stock Video

By Jim Pickerell | 818 Words | Posted 6/8/2017 | Comments
One of the big questions in today’s stock photo industry is the future potential for stock video use. Recently, the Digital Media Licensing Association (DMLA) conducted a webinar on this subject. A video is available here.

Open Letter To CEPIC Attendees

By Jim Pickerell | 530 Words | Posted 6/2/2017 | Comments
In less than two weeks representatives from the major stock photo agencies and distributors from around the world will be meeting at the CEPIC Congress in Berlin. The stock photo industry has changed dramatically in the last decade or two and faces major challenges as it moves ahead.

80% Of Illegal Image Uses Are Found Through Search Engines

By Jim Pickerell | 529 Words | Posted 5/23/2017 | Comments
According to a survey conducted by the European CEPIC industry association, 85% of the images found by visual search systems are illegal copies. 80% of these illegal images were distributed through search engines like the Google image search.

European Photo Assns vs Google Images

By Jim Pickerell | 285 Words | Posted 5/8/2017 | Comments
A meeting between Google Germany and the German Association of Picture Agencies, BVPA is set for May 9, 2017 in Google’s Berlin office. On Thursday, May 11, 2017 the French trade association of "online content publishers", GESTE, has called their members to a "working meeting" to look into the impact on traffic of the new features of Google Images on the websites of GESTE's members. Reports of both meetings will be available on CEPIC.org.

Group Registration Of Photographs

By Jim Pickerell | 426 Words | Posted 2/10/2017 | Comments
DMLA together with various other visual arts associations (what we are loosely referring to a Coalition of Visual Artists –DMLA, APA, ASMP, GAG, NPPA, NANPA, and PPA) filed a joint response to a proposed rulemaking by the Copyright Office on Group Registration of Photographs.

Stock Photo Business In China

By Jim Pickerell | 2016 Words | Posted 11/3/2016 | Comments
Chai Jijun, Co-Founder and EVP of Visual China Group (VCG) provided a very detailed and complete picture of the stock photo business in China when he gave the keynote address at the DMLA 2016 Conference last week. The following is his presentation.

Maria Pallante Removed as Head of Copyright Office

By Jim Pickerell | 730 Words | Posted 10/25/2016 | Comments
After five years in the position of US Register of Copyrights, Maria Pallante was fired last Friday. Pallante was informed of her change in roles by being locked out of her computer. Maria has been a huge advocate for the rights of Creators and instrumental in the industry’s efforts for modernizing the Copyright Office and the creation of a Small Claim’s Court for Creators. She has been seen as being fair and unbiased by all who know her.

Releases and Sensitive Subjects

By Jim Pickerell | 631 Words | Posted 10/13/2016 | Comments
As more and more amateurs supply images for marketing – particularly “candid, real life” images – there may be an increased risk of images without proper releases getting used. Some agencies – and maybe even customers -- are also becoming more lax in checking whether valid releases exist. While many agencies require that a release be submitted with all people images, not all do.

DMLA 2016 Conference

By Jim Pickerell | 747 Words | Posted 9/16/2016 | Comments
The 2016 Digital Media Licensing Association (DMLA) annual conference will be held in the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Jersey City on October 27-29. DMLA is known for its exceptional educational programming related to current industry issues.

EU Draft Directive on Copyright

By Jim Pickerell | 487 Words | Posted 9/15/2016 | Comments
On 14 September 2016 the European Commission published its copyright package including a draft directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market for promoting a “fair and efficient European copyright-based economy”. CEPIC represents hundreds of picture agencies and hundreds of thousands of photographers. CEPIC’s members have been digitizing visual content from the advent of the Internet. They license the resulting digital asset for all kinds of commercial uses, to newspapers, magazines, advertising, broadcasters, off and on-line, etc.

DMLA Annual Conference

By Jim Pickerell | 251 Words | Posted 8/30/2016 | Comments
The 2016 DMLA Annual Conference (http://digitalmedialicensing.org/conference.shtml) will return to the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Jersey City, October 27-29. Registration fees are due to go up on September 1st, but the deadline for the discounted rate has been extended to September 9th for those who use the promo code DMLA16.

ASPP Reorganizes

By Jim Pickerell | 334 Words | Posted 8/23/2016 | Comments
Darrell Perry has been named Executive Director of ASPP (American Society of Picture Professionals) and has written to members and friends informing them of recent changes and asking for help in recruiting new members.

Microsoft And Google Make Peace

By Jim Pickerell | 223 Words | Posted 6/10/2016 | Comments
On April 22, 2016 Google and Microsoft announced officially that they had buried the hatchet. Reflecting a changing relationship, the two sides drop complaints to regulators around the globe. Why should stock photographers care?

ACSIL Hosts 2016 Footage Expo In NY

By Jim Pickerell | 461 Words | Posted 5/10/2016 | Comments
The major sources of stock and archival footage will exhibit at the ACSIL FOOTAGE EXPO 2016 which is being held at the historic Prince George Ballroom at 15 East 27th Street, New York City on June 9, 2016.