Are Production Shoots In Your Future?

By Jim Pickerell | 3559 Words | Posted 6/30/1998 | Comments
I believe major agencies will begin funding production shoots with selected photographers. Some may hire staffers. Find out why and where that leaves you.

PACA Adopts "Rights Protected"

By Jim Pickerell | 932 Words | Posted 6/23/1998 | Comments
PACA has adopted the term ''Rights Protected'' to help agencies engaged in traditional licensing of images distinguish themselves from Royalty Free. Richard Pasley of ASPP comments and Jim Pickerell answers his comments.

The Death of Photojournalism?

By Jim Pickerell | 1778 Words | Posted 6/22/1998 | Comments
Otto Pohl who operates the only professional photo lab in Russia, and has opportunity to talk with many of the world's leading photojournalists has written a thought provoking piece about the future of photojournalism.

Catalog Math

By Jim Pickerell | 1374 Words | Posted 6/22/1998 | Comments
This story provides some additional figures and background in exploring the returns photographers are likely to see from print catalogs in the future.

Index Acquires Picture Cube & Stock Imagery

By Jim Pickerell | 1293 Words | Posted 6/22/1998 | Comments
Index Stock has made two major acquisitions. The Picture Cube of Boston and Stock Imagery of Denver are now both part of Index. Index now represents 1,165 photographers and 1.7 million images.

Sygma Gets New CEO

By Jim Pickerell | 1260 Words | Posted 6/9/1998 | Comments
Hubert Henrotte, founder of Sygma 25 years ago and CEO, has unexpectedly left Sygma as a result of ''irreconcilable differences'' with Sygma's shareholders. Jean-Marc Smadja has taken over as the new CEO. Sources expect less funding of feature coverage in the future.

Sales from Direct Stock 6

By Jim Pickerell | 1386 Words | Posted 6/2/1998 | Comments
A new survey shows that on-average photographers who advertised in Direct Stock 6 barely earned enough to cover their cost of advertising after the book had been out 16 months. However, a few had very significant sales.

New Copyright Legislation

By Jim Pickerell | 705 Words | Posted 5/26/1998 | Comments
New copyright legislation has passed the Senate and is working its way through the House. The bill makes it a crime to alter copyright management information, such as a watermark, on an image.

Digital Object Identifiers

By Jim Pickerell | 1117 Words | Posted 5/26/1998 | Comments
The Digital Object Identifier is a system for identifying text and photos. It can be used both on-line and in print format. Publishers are pushing this which could lead to wide spread use.

Getting "Fair" Compensation from Publishers

By Jim Pickerell | 2685 Words | Posted 5/20/1998 | Comments
The New York Times and Audubon Magazine try to make electronic use, without compensation, of stock photos submitted for print use only. Photographers fight back with good paperwork.

About Michael Masterson

Michael Masterson has a broad range of experience in marketing, business development, strategic planning, contact negotiations and recruiting in the photography, graphic design and publishing industries. In addition to his long experience at the Workbook and Workbookstock, Masterson owned and was creative director of his own graphic design firm for several years.

Masterson has been a speaker or panelist at industry events such as Seybold, PhotoPlus Expo, Visual Connections and the Picture Archive Council of America (PACA) national conference. He is currently the national president of the American Society of Picture Professionals (ASPP). He also serves on the board of the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council in his Los Angeles community. He chaired the marketing committee for the Los Angeles Conservancy, a historic preservation advocacy group, for many years.

He currently heads Masterson Consulting, working on projects ranging from business development for creative companies and sourcing talent for them to promoting and marketing industry events as well as providing resume and professional profile services for job-seekers. He can be reached at zvpunryqznfgrefba@tznvy.pbz.