ASMP Responds to Copyright Office Notice of Inquiry

Posted on 7/27/2015 by Jim Pickerell | Printable Version | Comments (0)

ASMP has responded to the April 24, 2015 U.S. Copyright Office Notice of Inquiry, which set out to review “how certain visual works, particularly photographs, graphic artworks, and illustrations are monetized, enforced and registered under the Copyright Act.”

The response focused on several critical areas including:
  • The need for effective remedies, such as a specialized Copyright Small Claims Court, to counterbalance the rampant infringement of photographic works that involve sums too small to justify litigation in federal Court.
  • Flaws in DMCA take-down procedures that protect infringers while placing an undue burden on rightsholders.
  • The aggregation of visual content by technology companies that amass venture funding and advertising revenues without returning
  • The reliance on expanded interpretations of the Fair Use doctrine as justification for widespread appropriation and misuse of copyrighted works.
  • Extensive client, event and venue demands for Work Made For Hire and Copyright Transfer as contractual workarounds to bypass the intent of Copyright and traditional licensing models.
  • Challenges posed by the registration process including the confusing rules surrounding the separation of and distinction between published and unpublished works and the lack of an effective API that would allow third party software developers to create drag and drop registration from within photo editing applications.
Find the full response here.  


Copyright © 2015 Jim Pickerell. The above article may not be copied, reproduced, excerpted or distributed in any manner without written permission from the author. All requests should be submitted to Selling Stock at 10319 Westlake Drive, Suite 162, Bethesda, MD 20817, phone 301-461-7627, e-mail: wvz@fpcubgbf.pbz

Jim Pickerell is founder of www.selling-stock.com, an online newsletter that publishes daily. He is also available for personal telephone consultations on pricing and other matters related to stock photography. He occasionally acts as an expert witness on matters related to stock photography. For his current curriculum vitae go to: http://www.jimpickerell.com/Curriculum-Vitae.aspx.  

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