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Key words in this issue: Photo Edit

NEWSWORDS:

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## PhotoAIM weekly newsletter for 12/07/02 ## 387a

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PhotoAIM, the weekly newsletter from PhotoSource

ISSN 1530-0511

If you no longer wish to receive PhotoAIM, see the instructions at the end of this newsletter.

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ASSIGNMENTS FOR 2003

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2003 is just around the corner. The digital era is upon us, and we are in control. Part of that control comes in the form of electronic communications via satellite and telephone lines. With quick information, we are able to capitalize on many photo-marketing opportunities that would have escaped us in the past.

Photography technology is outdoing itself. But don't let all the bells and whistles distract you. The actors, props, and setting may be different, but it's still the same show.

When it comes to getting pictures published, it still takes creative ability -- and that takes talent. But it will take more than talent in the coming years to consistently receive checks from publications, and see your credit line in national circulation. That takes marketing know-how.

The Law of Probability is on your side if you direct your marketing efforts toward specialized magazines and book publishers listed on the Web -- markets that want photos in the subject areas that you like to photograph in. Check for these specialized publishing houses by using a search engine such as Google.

Don't be tempted to be "all things to all editors." This is usually the first mistake the fledging photo illustrator makes. Photobuyers recognize that one photographer can't be that versatile. The editor would prefer to work with a photographer who already knows something about the interest area of her magazine. Her primary concern is her readers and advertisers.

Now that the Internet is available to you, you can break down your specialization(s) to precise specifics. Instead of using Outdoor Recreation, use Softball; Aviation, use SpitFire; Medicine, use Epilepsy; Education, use VoTech. These categories and hundreds of others are all listed by classification on the Web.

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DO YOU WANT PHOTOBUYERS TO NOTICE YOU AND YOUR WORK?

Do you want to show them why they should pick you instead of your competition? Well then, time has come once again for the always popular PhotoSource International Insert Program where we offer you a chance to get your message/image out to up to 3,000 photobuyers. When you participate in our insert program we will send your promo piece (up to 7 inches by 10 inches unfolded) in a mailing from us, a name photobuyers have known and trusted for over 25 years.

Mike Karlsson

PhotoSource International

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This week's featured photographer on PhotoSourceFolio: Morton Beebe:

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YOU AND THE LAW

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Supreme Court to Decide Copyright Term

HOW LONG SHOULD COPYRIGHT LAST?

In my July 2001 column I reported on the United States Court of Appeals decision in Eldred v. Reno [now Eldred v. Ashcroft], which upheld the constitutionality of that portion of the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 which extended the term of copyright protection for an additional 20 years. This extended the existing term from life plus 50 years to life plus 70 years for living persons, and from 75 years to 95 for corporations and other entities.

To the surprise of just about everyone, including those on the losing side in the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court of the United States agreed to hear and decide the constitutional issue of whether the extension violates the constitutional mandate that copyright protection extend only for "Limited Times."

Oral argument occurred before the Supreme Court on October 9, 2002.

One of the key points at  issue is whether an extension of the term for existing works promotes the progress of science and useful arts, or just a small class of owners of the already created works. The proponents of extending the term to existing works include major film studios who have works which will soon go into the public domain without this extension.

The opponents argue that such an extension exceeds the "Limited Times" requirement of the Constitution and will cause actual harm to photo and other researchers who want to use the "old" material but cannot trace copyright ownership after so many years.

Another argument addressed whether the Court could declare the extension unconstitutional without also invalidating the Copyright Act of 1976, which has controlled copyright for the last 24 years.

The photography industry has lined up on both sides. Content providers desire the longer term because it provides an additional 20 years of potential income production to their heirs. On the other hand, users of content, and some content providers as well, use material in the public domain as props, background, or as reference for new work, and would welcome the shorter term. It would also make life easier for these people because they would not have to do the detailed investigation necessary to obtain copyright clearances from the owners of the works.

What began as a seemingly simple issue has now taken on a life of its own. The Supreme Court decision is expected in Spring 2003.

BUSINESS NOTEPAD

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ASMP launched a new logo and website on November 1<sup>st</sup>. The logo features the letters "asmp" in lower case, with a half circle around them, suggesting an amphitheater. The organization, established back in 1944, has always fostered an openness and willingness to help individual photographers who work in the area of publications, corporate, commercial, and editorial. A survey of a cross section of their 5,500 members revealed that most felt the trade organization was due for both a new logo and a website that would bring the association into contemporary times. (American Society of Media Photographers, 150 North Second Street, Philadelphia PA 19106; <www.asmp.org>.)

CORBIS has a new home. They've moved from their suburban location in Bellevue, WA, to a location in downtown Seattle much closer to GETTY IMAGES. Corbis' new home is at 710 Second Avenue, the Dexter Horton Building, built in 1924 and modernized to reflect Bill Gate's upbeat tastes and the Internet's technology. The new headquarters is 10,000 square feet larger than their former Bellevue location. This will give more space for the Corbis data center and imaging lab, make it easier for photographers and suppliers to visit them, and offer more office space for the growing CORBIS workforce. The company will also upgrade existing earthquake protection. –RE

IS THE PHOTO YOURS?

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A photographer for a mid-size newspaper recently wrote, "I work for a mid-sized newspaper. If I get a photo in the process of working for the newspaper, and the photo turns out to be a blockbuster, does the copyright belong to me or the newspaper? "

You may have found yourself in this position. If you are a freelancer, operating on your own, and you have not signed any document that says you are "working for hire," the Copyright Law says you own the copyright to that photo.

But if you are in the employ of a newspaper and are under contract with them to produce photos for them, you no doubt have signed a work agreement with the newspaper. Unless you have some kind of written agreement or contract with the newspaper whereby, after a certain time, you receive ownership of the photos you take, the newspaper owns the copyright to the photos.

The NYFD Firefighters

Take the case of the famous firefighters' photo of the three NYFD firefighters raising the American flag at Ground Zero on September 11, 2001.

A fund was established and it has collected more than $350,000 from manufacturers of items such as T-shirts, coffee cups, medallions, pins, and other illegal items and has applied those funds toward the two charities. An equal amount has been received by the fund in royalties and from legal items. The actual copyright of the photo is held by The Record (a newspaper in Bergen county, NJ) and not by the photographer, Tom Franklin, who is an employee of the newspaper and no doubt under a standard "work for hire" contract with the paper.

FLASHBACK

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1861 - December 4<sup>th</sup> - Singer and Actress Lillian Russell, the most photographed woman of her era, was born in Clinton, Iowa.

1927 – December 12<sup>th</sup> – One of the inventors of the microchip, Robert N. Noyce, was born, in Iowa.

1973 – December 29<sup>th</sup> – First comet photograph taken from space, was taken of the comet Kohoutek, by Dr. Edward George Gibson and Lieutenant Colonel Gerald Paul Carr, U.S. Marine Corps, from Skylab 3.

CONTESTS

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

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"He can compress the most words into the smallest ideas of any man I ever met."

–Abraham Lincoln

FREE THIS WEEK

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FREE FILM PRINTS

Order film-quality prints on Kodak paper from your digital photos. As a special introduction, you'll

even get 10 FREE PRINTS with your first upload. After that, prints are as low as 25 cents each.

THIS WEEK'S WEB FEATURE

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Watch for developments in the field of stock photography in PhotoAIM's

PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE NEWS

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You'll be the first to know…

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.

IBM Helps National Geographic Create Photography Ecommerce Site - Based on IBM ebusiness software and hardware infrastructure technology, the new on-demand ebusiness solution will expand and enhance National Geographic's IT infrastructure through a new B2B Web site located at www.ngsimages.com.

Totalmass brings wireless instant photography to 3G phone users – The convergence of digital cameras and 3G cell phones inspired the company to create a product and service that combines the bests of digital and instant photography.

Let's talk photography -

Revelations abound in books on photography - I've been reviewing photography books for daily newspapers for 20 years. There truly are an astonishing number and variety of photography books: books full of pretty photographs, books full of ordinary photographs and books that, frankly, deserve to be quickly remaindered

Filmmaker produced animal magic - Canadian wildlife photographer set new standards for nature films; kept beavers in his home

Stop procrastinating! Here are some more gift ideas - New York Times columnist David Pogue suggests sending relatives a professionally-produced bound book of digital photographs you've taken.

VRX To Provide Content To Some Of The World's Top Vacation Websites Through Trisept Solutions - VRX will license its industry leading archive of destination related 360-degree virtual tours and interactive maps to Trisept. In turn, Trisept will integrate VRX's content into its clients websites, representing some of the top travel companies on the Internet.

Experiment points to new spin on storage - In an experiment that could bring the computing world closer to an advanced method of data storage, a team of scientists successfully reproduced an image that was digitally encoded and momentarily stored within a liquid crystal molecule.

PPrinters Prove to Be a Growing Market for Stock Images - Thirty-six percent of print businesses use the Internet to find and purchase stock photography.

Omniglot Is Your Guide To Written Languages Find Out About Arabic, Cyrillic, and Lost Tongues - Nearly all languages also are visual, and writing systems vary greatly in the nations around the world. If somebody were doing a story about Arabic families in your community, couldn't you add depth to the piece with a little understanding about the origin of Farsi?

National Geographic has unveiled its big new on-line commercial digital stock photo archive in an attempt to triple its revenue in the next three to five years.

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Keep up with what you need to know in the editorial stock photo industry. Our newsletter PhotoStockNotes will put you on the leading edge.

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387a

Next Week: Photoshop for Stock Photography Part 3

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–David Thomley, Photographer, Sacramento CA