Associations
ASMP’s Executive Director Eugene
Mopsik speaks out on the ASMP position relative to the new Getty Images photographer contract. ASMP has been carrying on a dialogue with
Getty for some years as a photographer advocate. While ASMP has had recent discussions
with Getty, substantive results in the best interests of photographers
have not been achieved. Therefore, ASMP believes that it is important
for photographers to stay knowledgeable about the changes in the market and to
be aware of options including changing distributors and self-marketing.
The annual CEPIC Congress, to be held this year in Istanbul, is
scheduled for May 18 through 21, 2011, just a little more than a month
away. Image distributors from all over the world will be in attendance.
The CEPIC Congress will be the best opportunity in 2011 for image
distributors to meet some of the leading people in the visual
communications world – thought leaders, early adopters, owner managers,
entrepreneurs - and establish distributor relationships for your work.
The Stock Artists Alliance (SAA), a photographer trade association, has
announced that it is discontinuing operations. Founded in 2001, this
organization came into being after Getty Images announced that it
planned to make significant changes in its photographer contracts. At
that time relations between Getty Images and its contract photographers
had become steadily “more strained” over a period of 18 months.
In an effort to recognize and support emerging photographers, the Editorial Photographers trade association [EP] has announced its Third Annual EP Education Grants student photo competition. For details go to:
http://www.editorialphoto.com/epedu/ The Grand Prize winner will be chosen from among the finalists by internationally-acclaimed Magnum photographer Elliott Erwitt. More than $5000 in prizes will be presented to the Grand Prize winner, and more than $2000 each for the other five finalists!
Recently the U.S. Copyright Office launched a pilot program that enables
photographers to use the Electronic Copyright Office (eCO) system to
complete group registrations of “databases that predominantly consist of
photographs" or “published photographs."
In a recent talk at the Kernochan Center for Law, Media and the Arts at
Columbia University as part of a program titled
Collective Management of
Copyright: Solution or Sacrifice Eugene Mopsik, Executive Director of
American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) outlined the general
state of the photo licensing business and offered some possible
solutions.
I just returned from ASMP's Strickly Business 3 weekend in Philadelphia.
There is another in Chicago April 1st to 3rd. It was absolutely great
for laying out where the industry is today (not particularly great) and
offering ideas as to how to re-invent your business for the future.
Check out
http://asmp.org/content/strictly-business-3.
The 2011 CEPIC Congress will take place in Istanbul, Turkey from 18 to
22 May. This annual event, held in a different European country each
year, draws stock photography professionals from all over the world. The
2010 Congress in Dublin, Ireland welcomed 700 attendees from 352
companies, 37 countries and five continents. The Halic Congress Center,
on the banks of the Golden Horn in Istanbul will be the venue for this
Congress.
The copyright office tells us that only 5% of photographers register
their images. ASMP wants to change that and has created an initiative
called
Registration ©ounts to create awareness of copyright
issues, to encourage all photographers to register their work, and to
provide the tools and information needed for registration.
One of the questions of the Stock Artists Alliance spring survey asked:
“What other issues would you like to see SAA address in the year?” The
answers, particularly with regard to the general attitude toward
microstock, were very revealing.
The results of the Stock Artists Alliance February survey paint a
familiar picture of the past 18 months: declining revenues and continued
division over microstock.
Ed: Shannon Fagan was one of
the speakers at the New Media Conference held in conjunction with the
June 2010 CEPIC Congress in Dublin, Ireland. Fagan has been in the
stock business for a decade, is represented by most major agencies and
is the president of the Stock Artists Alliance. He shares his
observations about the state of the industry with Selling Stock readers.
After the courts denied requests to join on the creators' side of the Authors Guild et. al. v. Google, several photo and creative organizations, along with a few individual photographers and illustrators, have filed a separate class action against the search engine.
In January2010, pacaSearch will roll out a major marketing campaign
to picture buyers to promote its new pacaSearch software. At a recent demonstration at PictureHouse in New
York, Lee Horton, Multimedia Editor of K12 Inc. said, “Learning about
the functionality and usefulness of [pacaSearch] put a big smile on my
face. As a photo editor and art buyer, I search multiple sites daily.
This tool puts more control in my hands. I can keep the results pages
in tabs with fewer keystrokes, page toggles and site crashes. The
relative percentages, predictive text and term definitions create a
tight, clean search environment. With the launch of pacaSearch, I can
successfully and accurately find imagery in less time, with less
hassle, while having more agency resources at my fingertips. Thank you,
PACA.”
On Nov. 4, the motion of four creative industry groups and several individuals to join on the creators' side of the Authors Guild et. al. v. Google was once again denied on appeal. Organizations that petitioned the court to intervene in the class action against Google included the American Society of Media Photographers, the Graphic Artists Guild, the Picture Archive Council of America and the North American Nature Photography Association. Chief among U.S. District Judge Denny Chin's grounds for denying their request was its untimely nature.
Due to the unforeseeable circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic the CEPIC Congress 2020 cannot be held from 27 to 29 May.
In order to avoid the negative impact this cancellation would cause registered delegates, CEPIC has been able to secure new dates of 30 September to 2 October 2020 at the existing venue, Gran Meliá Victoria in Palma de Mallorca. There will be a Welcome Reception on 29 September.