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Key words in this issue: Copyright Damages | Nature Advice | First Film Close-Up | Studio MX Guide | Sell Photos |

NEWSWORDS: Priest vs Photographer | ImageDirect Bought | Getty Buys Again | Shuttle Photos | Digital Business | Pacific Adventure | Large Format Landscapes | Kenyan Slums | iMac Price Drop |

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## PhotoAIM weekly newsletter for 02/08/03## 389a

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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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COPYRIGHT

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Obtaining Copyright Damages. . .

Why Registration is Critical

Question one in a copyright infringement case is whether the work has been registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. This is because -- even though photographers have copyright protection from the moment they shoot – the protection is often useless with regards to getting infringement damages paid, if the image was not registered prior to the infringement (or within three months of the image’s first publication).

Registration is required to recover attorney's fees and statutory damages -- which is often the stick that motivates infringers to pay without litigation. Courts may award statutory damages between $750 and $30,000 per work; the minimum damage award is reduced to $200 if the infringement is innocent; and the maximum increased to $150,000 if willful. Willful infringement usually means knowledge of copyright protection, which is a good reason to place a copyright notice on all of your work.

Courts have enormous discretion in awarding statutory damages, and usually make a gestalt judgment considering factors such as compensation, deterrence, the value of the copyright, and the infringer's state of mind. Even with a finding of willful infringement, a court recently found that a $30,000 statutory award was appropriate. [See Getaped.com, Inc. v. Cangemi, Shields and Ski & Cycle Hut, 188 F.Supp.2d 398 (D.C.N.Y. 2002).]

Without registration, actual damages or profit must be proven. For photographs, "actual damages" is often the fair market value of a license of the image; and profits, especially if the work was used in advertising, are difficult to prove.

Copyright 2003Stephen Filler is an attorney in New York City (www.nylawline.com) whose practice focuses on intellectual property, copyright, trademark, technology, media, contracts, corporate and photography law. His office is located at 400 Madison Avenue, Suite 14D, New York, NY 10017, 212-204-3508, sfiller@nylawline.com.

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This week's featured photographer on PhotoSourceFolio: Jeff March

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NATURE

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Nature Is Everywhere

I would love to be independently wealthy. And who wouldn't? I could travel the world shooting exotic animals on photo safaris. I would have the fastest and longest lenses available, a dependable tripod, and a van to hold all my film. That would be the day! But like many of you, I'm sure, most times I can barely keep up with the cost of a modest film supply and batteries. Photography is a business (or hobby) with high overhead costs.

KEEPING COSTS DOWN

My best advice, in the meantime, is to stay within a sensible photo budget. One way to keep costs down is to use equipment that is as simple as possible. Use what you have. There is no need to get a gadget bag full of expensive components which simply collect dust and add weight. If you don't really need that lens, don't buy it. If you have several working camera bodies, don't go out and get that brand new one just to be able to say you have it. Most of all, don't think you need to travel around the world to get great nature photographs. Nature is all around us.

WHAT TO PHOTOGRAPH

Observe your local field and woodland animals and find the best ways to photograph them in natural settings. A little extra study and patience will help you to produce great pictures, which have a better chance of selling.

NATURE IS EVERYWHERE

Have you tried shooting nature photographs in your own back yard? If you have a macro lens and a good flash, think about insect photography. Spiders are always easy subjects because they stay put and give you time to set up the shot. Some spiders won't move even if you spray them with a fine mist of water!

I have always had good luck shooting butterflies in my garden with my inexpensive 70-300mm zoom lens. Bird feeders filled with assorted seeds can attract all kinds of local bird species. Set up a natural-looking perch "studio" near the feeder and birds will use it as a rest stop. This "studio" will allow you to control your shots, lighting and backgrounds, and get better quality pictures.

THE CAFETERIA

FLASHBACK

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1883 - The first film close-up was made, in the laboratory of Thomas Edison in East Orange, NJ. The photo is of Edison's assistant, Fred Ott, who was sneezing at the time, and is titled: "The Sneeze."

1931 – February 21^st – the camera exposure meter was invented by William Nelson Goodwin, Jr. of the Weston Electrical Instrument Corporation, in Newark, NJ, who obtained patent No. 1,407,147 on a thermal ammeter.

CONTESTS

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13<sup>th</sup> ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION. Deadline: March 1, 2003. Awards: Winners: $7,000 monetary grant plus exhibition at FiftyCrows Gallery; $250 to each finalist. Contact: FiftyCrows Foundation, International Fund for Documentary Photography, 1074 Folsom St, San Francisco, CA 94103. Phone: 1 415 551-0091. Web: http:www.fiftycrows.org .

GOOD STUFF

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ADS WE’VE READ

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

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"I think that I shall never see a billboard lovely as a tree. Perhaps, unless the billboards fall, I'll never see a tree at all."

–Ogden Nash

FREE THIS WEEK

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MailWasher FREE. This software program allows you to view incoming e-mail before it is downloaded to your computer by your e-mail program. You can also have the option of "bouncing" messages so that your e-mail address appears to be invalid. (The spammer will then delete your address as "not worth the trouble."

THIS WEEK'S WEB FEATURE

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Get a head start on selling your stock photos! Our Specialized Lists of photobuyers will give your business a jump-start.

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.

Photographer says Kimball pushed camera in her face - A newspaper photographer testified Tuesday that "it felt like a lightning bolt hit me" when now-defrocked Catholic priest Don Kimball pushed a camera into her face outside a Santa Rosa courtroom. "It was loud. It was strong. I thought I was dead," said Penni Gladstone, 49, a photographer for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Getty Images Buys ImageDirect

Cardiologist Captures Images of Shuttle... went into his backyard with cameras and binoculars... the images were distributed worldwide through the AP.

'Going Digital' Builds Business: Three Out of Five of Professional Photographers in U.S. Say Digital Cameras Create New Opportunities – For three out of five professional photographers in the U.S., digital photography is creating new business opportunities that they did not enjoy when they were shooting exclusively with film, according to a "pulse poll". Of those generating new revenue through digital photography, 61 percent said growth occurred immediately, and another 31 percent said they reaped benefits within the first 12 months.

Adventurer to sail reed boat across Pacific; American businessman and a French-Italian amateur biologist with special interest in photography...

Large-Format Landscapes Grace the Met helping to bring photography into the mainstream of contemporary art...

Kenyan Slum Girls Use Camera Power to Fight Abuse

Apple updates the iMac; lowers price on iMac and eMac

Large-format landscapes at Metropolitan draw viewers into scenes – The I-am-a-camera approach of Thomas Struth's wall-sized landscapes and museum interiors induces an almost 3-D effect. Struth, 48, is credited with helping to bring photography into the mainstream of contemporary art.

CompuTrolley.com launches Ulead photography software range - - CompuTrolley.com has announced the enhancement of its existing Ulead portfolio with the addition of PhotoImpact 8, PhotoExpress 4.0 and PhotoExplorer 7. These image editing software packages are geared at the enthusiast intending to enhance his photographic skills.

Street photography, surrealism in spotlight - Two famous photographers whose work is featured at Eaton Fine Art in downtown West Palm Beach have much in common. But their acclaimed work couldn't be farther apart – street photography capturing everyday life in the textured world of 1920s Paris and the European countryside versus arresting surrealist photographs, including those celebrating electricity and abstract technique.

Local photographers capture area's color - Once again, area hobby photographers have scoured their neighborhoods looking for interesting angles on their pets, children and landscapes. In 2002, the North Forty News photo contest accepted entries in the categories of faces, bugs, nature's bounty and digital photography.

In the eye of the photographer: transforming the mundane – Kevork Karaboyadjian has taken more than 800 photographs in his life, many of them pictures of garbage, vegetables and his own beefsteaks. "There are so many beautiful things in nature that we often look at without really seeing," said Karaboyadjian, describing his photography.

Six terms enough for guvs' photographer - Click. Click. Click. Photographer Matt Ferguson clicked away for 22 years while shooting the life and times of three of our former governors: Jim Thompson, Jim Edgar and George Ryan. Then he walked away . . . and set up his own shop.

John Toppenberg captures a side of nature that few get to see - "(I am a photographer) to share the beauty I experience in nature," Toppen-berg said. "... To capture our link with the natural world, with those creatures out there. I don't attempt to portray them as vicious, I attempt to portray their life cycle and the beauty of it."

Fujifilm Introduces the 256MB xD-Picture Card for Digital Photographers; New, Higher Capacity Assists in Design of Compact, Versatile Digital Cameras

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