Seven industry bodies have filed an amici curiae—“friend of the court”—brief that supports photographer Jerry Greenberg in his Supreme Court appeal of the latest decision that sided with the National Geographic. For years, the photographer has been embroiled in a copyright-infringement battle over the magazine republishing some of his images as part of a CD compilation, which he sees as a new use requiring compensation.
Organizations joining in the brief represent thousands of American photographers and include the American Society of Media Photographers, the Graphic Artists Guild, the North American Nature Photography Association, the Stock Artist Alliance, the National Press Photographers Association, the Advertising Photographers of America and the Picture Archive Council of America.
Prepared by ASMP general counsel Victor Perlman, the brief urges to court not to “divest freelance creators of their rights in new collections of previously published works.” The brief, along with commentary by NPPA general counsel Mickey Osterreicher, is available at the NPPA Web site.