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Key words in this issue: Mass Copyright | Online Theft | Home Wireless | Register Advantage | Permanent E-mail | Click-by-Click Guide | Dreamweaver Development | Photo Edit |

NEWSWORDS: Printing Growth | Outdoor Polarizing Filters | Haunting Trophies | Children’s Classes | Historical Aerial Photography | ICP Infinity Awards | Photography Hall of Fame | 1000 Photojournalists | Rick Smolan |

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## PhotoAIM weekly newsletter for 03/15/03 ## 390b

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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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Advance note: Nowadays it doesn't have to be all or nothing when it comes to copyright. A non-profit company called Creative Commons offers a way to make some of your work available to some of the people some of the time.

COPYRIGHT BY THE POUND

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In the early days of the USA, we adopted the British system of inches, feet, and yards. Now in the 21<sup>st</sup> century, such measurements are cumbersome in the global community of meters and centimeters. The same with pounds and ounces. Grams would be preferable.

Copyright has a similar problem.

The original builders of our U.S. Constitution wanted to guarantee protection for composers, painters, writers, and other artists to ensure that they could benefit from their work. They passed legislation that offered 14 years of copyright. After that time, in a democratic society, the public could benefit by the work, also. As the country grew, so did the copyright protection, from 14 years, to 50 years, and eventually 70 years. The U.S. Supreme court recently agreed to uphold the 1998 Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA), which extended copyright 20 years, from life plus 50 years to life plus 70, and from 75 to 95 years for corporations and other entities.

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"...by the inch it's a cinch; by the yard it is hard."

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This extension of time has benefited companies like Disney Inc., who want to sell the rights of Mickey Mouse on coffee cups and T-shirts twenty extra years. But it has backfired for companies like PBS (Public Broadcasting System), that wants to air a Jimmy Stewart WWII film, or an early Louis Armstrong recording.

There has never been an in-between. Copyright protects for a determined time span. And it protects all rights. Period. As the saying goes, "...by the inch it's a cinch; by the yard it is hard."

In the Digital Age, however, authors, composers, artists, and photographers can modify the copyright protection so that both the public and the author or artist can benefit by it.

IT'S FREE

At Stanford Law School a group called Creative Commons has developed a free copyright licensing scheme that will allow the public to use a work on a limited basis. A composer might wish to allow public dissemination of a song to youth groups but not to label companies, without payment. The organization plans to eventually offer conditions/restrictions that will let authors restrict uses to certain media, e.g. newspapers or on the Internet.

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This week's featured photographer on PhotoSourceFolio: Bob Brown:

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SIDE BAR

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Online theft of images

Every now and then I get a question about watermarks, disabling right click, and "keeping your images safe" on-line. These are all legitimate questions, but happily "theft" of images off a website is far more rare than most people think. When it happens, because it does happen now and then, it's often quite innocent. All that is usually needed to deal with the problem is a polite request by e-mail. More serious cases, though, are very few and far between.

I've had images misused (I prefer to use that word rather than "stolen") perhaps a dozen times since my images have been available on-line (since 2000). All of these cases have been due to lack of knowledge on the "offenders" part. All were taken care of with no problems at all. In all cases images were used on someone's private website, or very small and very local newsletters. Not one of these were usages were ones where I could have sold usage rights for, so I didn't miss any sales.

MISUSE

It's just about nonexistent that a professional photobuyer at a magazine, newspaper, or book publisher, knowingly would misuse an image. The odd occurrence is usually due to an inadvertent mistake on the photobuyer's part. No serious photobuyer would purposely misuse an image. The risks (lawsuit as well as a destroyed reputation in the industry) far outweigh the small financial gain.

ONLINE

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Wireless Networking at Home

Wireless networking allows you to share high-speed internet (DSL or cable) connections, printers, and multiple computers, all without interconnecting wires. Generically, it's known as Wi-Fi. Network speeds are often much lower than the typically 100Mb/s Ethernet wired speeds, and there are significant security issues, but for many applications, or for when running wires is too much bother or not an option, Wi-Fi has its place. One of those places may be in your home or home office.

Tsk, Tsk, Taxes, Taxes

Still a hot-button issue, states across the nation are trying to figure out how to plug into the (comparative) honey-pot of taxing Internet sales. For many states, the amount of revenue to be gained in this endeavor is chump change, while for other states it could be a good percentage of their overall take. Internet shopping is expected to climb to $40 billion this year, and almost triple that in three years. With the economy not nearly as strong as it was a few years ago, a lot of legislators are seeing dollar signs in them thar Internet hills! The general rule has been that states cannot force a retailer to collect sales tax from shoppers unless that business has a physical presence ("nexus") in that state. But they've come up with a plan that is working in some states, and will likely spread. The plan is that if an online retailer, say Barnes and Noble, also has brick-and-mortar stores in that state (thus meeting the nexus requirement), then states are justified in demanding that the online retailer collect and remit state sales tax on Internet sales made to residents of that state. Some states are already doing just that.

COPYRIGHT

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The advantage of registering an image...

A Small Oversight, A Large Loss

In last month's column I wrote that registration is required to recover attorney's fees and statutory damages. Without registration, actual damages or profit must be proven. Actual damages are 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.

A case that illustrates this is Jack Mackie v. Connie Rieser and Seattle Symphony Orchestra Public Benefit Corporation, 296 F.3d 909 (9th Circuit, 2002). Mackie created a figurative work entitled "The Tango." The Seattle Symphony used an unauthorized scanned image of "The Tango" in a photomontage as part of a 24-page promotional brochure for its 1996-1997 season, that was mailed to 150,000 individuals. Mackie sued for infringement. The work had not been registered, so Mackie sought actual damages, including a hypothetical royalty payment. The Court ruled that Mackie was only entitled to $1,000 in damages – representing "what a willing buyer would have been reasonably required to pay a willing seller for [the] work" -- and disregarded Mackie's allegation that he would have licensed the work pre-infringement for $85,000.

BUSINESS NOTEPAD

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PERMANENT E-MAIL ADDRESS SOLUTION.

If you find that your ISP changes its business name on you, or worse, goes out of business, here's a solution. If you are a college graduate, your school's alumni office may have a forwarding feature available to you. It typically consists of a suffix with the school's name, that you can use as your official e-mail address. Examples of schools offering this service: @alumni.MIT.edu; @alumni.Tufts.edu; @alumni.UCON.edu. No matter whether you change or lose your home or office e-mail address, your official alumni (edu) address remains permanent and forwards all your e-mail to whatever personal e-mail address you notify them to use. It's a lot easier sending one notice out, than hundreds or thousands. –RE The service is free, but you can expect a pledge request from your college at the annual giving time.

GOOD STUFF

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ASP.NET Development with Macromedia Dreamweaver MX, by Ryan Parnell and Joel Martinez. This book takes a visual, task-based approach to developing ASP.NET web applications with Dreamweaver, using pictures to guide you. It works like a reference book -- you look up what you need. It's concise, with straightforward steps and explanations. ($29.99; ISBN: 0-321-14642-5) Contact: Peachpit Press, 1249 Eighth St, Berkeley CA 94710. Phone: 1 800 283-9444. Fax: 1 510 524-2221.

ADS WE’VE READ

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

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"To err is human--and to blame it on a computer is even more so."

–Robert Orben

FREE THIS WEEK

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FREE CELLPHONE HEADSET There are new laws and regulations limiting the use of cellphones while

THIS WEEK'S WEB FEATURE

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Have questions about marketing your editorial stock photography? Put your questions on our Kracker Barrel and find the answers.

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.

Rick Smolan and David Elliot Cohen, creators of the original "Day in the Life" book series, have teamed together again to produce "America 24/7". They will be selecting 1,000 photojournalists for a project documenting life in America. The photographers will be shooting during the week of May 12-18. Photographers are asked to propose assignments in their local communities, and will have use of Olympus digital cameras. For more information: Against All Odds Productions. Attn: Katya Able (415) 331 6300 x2.

Photography Industry Sees Printing Growth - - With feverish demand for digital cameras fueling growth in the photography industry, manufacturers hope to persuade consumers that printing pictures is just as important as snapping them.

San Francisco Chronicle revealed that it had used controversial aerial photography to count crowd size;

Polarizing filters important for good outdoor photography - For outdoor photography, a polarizing filter is an important accessory. Without one, a picture can look flat and soft with muted colors - and it might have "hotspots" caused by glare.

Photography and art in the eye of the beholder - Frank Perna found the inspiration for his series in a storage building filled with piles of old trophies. Using light, photography, paints and canvas, his series contains haunting gold figures that appear like alien creatures climbing from the depths of some other planet or domain - but that's only the view of the writer.

Gallery offering photography classes to children - Your trashed camera could become some child's treasure -- and his or her ticket out of becoming a statistic. So dig out your forgotten 35 mm camera and travel to the Texas Arts Venue in downtown Conroe. The nonprofit art gallery wants to offer photography classes to underprivileged children.

Historical Aerial Photography used for ecological management – The Countryside Services department of Hampshire County Council are using CR Historic aerial photography, published by GeoInformation Historic, to monitor, assess and manage areas of special interest within the county.

Europeans Dominate ICP Infinity Awards - European photographers have cleaned up in the International Center of Photography's (ICP) 19th annual Infinity Awards.

Three Added To Photography Hall Of Fame

1,000 Photojournalists Wanted For Documentary Project - Rick Smolan and David Elliot Cohen, creators of the Day in the Life. book series, have reunited to oversee America 24/7, an ambitious project documenting life in America. The organization is looking to hire 1,000 photographers to shoot for the project during the week of May 12-18. Photographers will be asked to propose assignments in their communities, and will have use of Olympus digital cameras.

Speeding Up Photo Storage - Speed--or, rather, the length of a pause between pictures--is often one of the frustrations that comes with the switch to digital photography from analog film cameras. Flash-memory-card makers have been trying to speed up the saving process while also increasing storage capacity. SanDisk this week said it has made some progress.

Photographer Claire Flanders Dies; Exhibited, Published Book of Work - Claire Flanders, 66, a photographer whose mystical and mesmerizing black-and-white visions of cathedrals, palaces and natural environments earned her critical praise, died March 8 at her home in Washington.

Three Added To Photography Hall Of Fame...Europeans Dominate ICP Infinity Awards .....

Smithsonian exhibit looks at the history of black photography;

Pioneer in underwater photography.....Explorer and Filmmaker Luis Marden Dies

Nelly To Show Off Photography Skills In April Issue Of 'Playboy'

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Next Week: Look but Don’t Photograph