10 Must Read Copyright Articles for Photographers
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| Illumination II |
Sometimes the fastest way to illumination is to look back to see what you may have missed on your journey. In that light for your holiday weekend reading I thought I’d repost links to my most popular articles on Copyright. Since I originally posted these articles to my blog, my readership has grown quite a bit. To those who are new to my blog I hope this information is enlightening and for those who have been long time readers I hope these articles provide you a refresher to stay on top of your game.
1. Copyrights: Protecting My Photography
2. How The Rights To Your Photo Are Being Hijacked Through Photo Contests & Social Media
3. Bill of Rights for Photographers Proposed for Photo Contests
4. Watermarks: My Journey With Photographic Watermarks
5. Watermarks: Evolution of a Watermark
6. Watermarking with Lightroom & Mogrify
7. 5 Reasons Why MetaData Should be Part of Your Workflow
Note the articles below are dated. Some issues discussed have never been resolved while others have been. Their listing here is to give you background as to why you must always be diligent in protecting your photography and to pay attention to Terms of Use for each site you post your photography to.
8. How Every Flickr Photo Ended Up on Sale This Weekend
9. Facebook’s Rights Grab: How Far Does It Go?
10. Facebook’s Terms of Use: From Bad to Beyond Worse
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Bonus:
11. EXIF and Beyond: Nick Dunmur of Pro-Imaging.org (podcast)
Technorati Tags: photography, copyright, articles
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Great tips Jim- One would think that after 25 years in the business, I would have thought better. After signing a contract with Corbis (my syndication agency) for copyright submission on my behalf. I found myself in a real situation…
It was brought to my attention that my cover image of Halle Berry was used by American Greetings as a greeting card. To make it worse, they credited another photographer.
When I took this to my I.P. attorney, he contacted Corbis for the file number. They asked him why and he explained. Long story short, what I signed also gave Corbis the rights (in fine print) to seek damages on my behalf. However here is the kicker… They can settle for 50 bucks if they want with the caveat that American Greetings purchase all materials from Corbis exclusively, so they win, I lose.
Be careful what you sign and who you think is looking out for you, they may be just looking out for themselves…
[Reply]
Wow! Scary. I've passed on many stock contracts for similar clauses. Tough lesson to learn, but I hope you're making the most of the experience. Thanks for sharing your story it's quite an eye opener.
[Reply]
Nowadays, most “agencies” do not act as agents, but have only their interests in mind. In deciding to use such agencies, one has to balance the convenience of having representation versus the dissatisfaction of being part of an organization that engages in practices such as the one described by avenaim. Some photographers may also find that it is not just a matter on convenience, but that they cannot sell enough licenses by themselves. Fortunately I am not part of that group.
[Reply]
Yet another excellent and highly informative post. I was particularly interested in the metadata post. Thanks for the compilation.
[Reply]
Great tips Jim- One would think that after 25 years in the business, I would have thought better. After signing a contract with Corbis (my syndication agency) for copyright submission on my behalf. I found myself in a real situation…
It was brought to my attention that my cover image of Halle Berry was used by American Greetings as a greeting card. To make it worse, they credited another photographer.
When I took this to my I.P. attorney, he contacted Corbis for the file number. They asked him why and he explained. Long story short, what I signed also gave Corbis the rights (in fine print) to seek damages on my behalf. However here is the kicker… They can settle for 50 bucks if they want with the caveat that American Greetings purchase all materials from Corbis exclusively, so they win, I lose.
Be careful what you sign and who you think is looking out for you, they may be just looking out for themselves…
[Reply]
Wow! Scary. I've passed on many stock contracts for similar clauses. Tough lesson to learn, but I hope you're making the most of the experience. Thanks for sharing your story it's quite an eye opener.
[Reply]
Nowadays, most “agencies” do not act as agents, but have only their interests in mind. In deciding to use such agencies, one has to balance the convenience of having representation versus the dissatisfaction of being part of an organization that engages in practices such as the one described by avenaim. Some photographers may also find that it is not just a matter on convenience, but that they cannot sell enough licenses by themselves. Fortunately I am not part of that group.
[Reply]
Yet another excellent and highly informative post. I was particularly interested in the metadata post. Thanks for the compilation.
[Reply]
[...] have several copyright issues at hand at the moment. Here is a great article by Jim Goldstein (posted here) that I commented on the moment I read it. Stay tuned for my compelling story concerning my [...]
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