| Industry News | | Print | |
|
Please send in your news articles or snippets for publication here.
Wilmington Group has announced that it will not be holding the Regional Press Awards this year. Wilmington retained the rights to Press Gazette’s events when it sold the magazine and website to Progressive Media International in April last year. It held a consultation with key figures in the regional newspaper publishing industry, with the assistance of the Newspaper Society, "to assess the options for the Regional Press Awards in the current economic environment".
Full detail here PressGazette.co.uk Photoshot has purchased Retna Pictures Limited, a well-known source of music and celebrity images. This is Photoshot’s 11th acquisition Charles Taylor, managing director of Photoshot Holdings Limited, said, “The addition of Retna Pictures Limited to our family of collections is another significant milestone in our plan to establish Photoshot as a quality based, full service, international, photo library group. Retna perfectly compliments our existing celebrity, music and portraiture collections, UPPA, Stay Still and Starstock.” Format Photography Agency 1983-2003
A new photographic display will celebrate the work of Format Photography Agency, the only solely female agency in British photographic history. The seventeen portraits on display will reflect the scope and achievement of this agency and this will be the first display devoted to Format at the National Portrait Gallery.
Format was established in 1983 by eight founding members: Anita Corbin, Sheila Gray, Pam Isherwood, Jenny Mathews, Maggie Murray, Joanne O\'Brien, Raissa Page and Val Wilmer. During its history the agency represented twenty leading women photographers. Portraits by photographers Melanie Friend, Roshini Kempadoo, Joanne O\'Brien, Brenda Prince and some of the founders will be included in this display.
The Format ethos aimed to encourage its members to develop their creativity and careers, while remaining sensitive to the context in which their images were used and distributed. It portrayed people and issues that were under-represented in the mainstream media of the time. By photographing women and men in non-traditional roles, its members aimed to break down gender stereotypes, and change the way women and other marginalised groups were perceived.
Portraits displayed will include Joan Ruddock, then chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament; Jo Spence, feminist photographer; the Revd Katharine Rumens, one of the first women ordained to the Anglican priesthood; Julie Christie, actress, and Linda Bellos, originator of Black History Month. Photographs of Melissa Benn, Joan Ruddock, Angela Mason, John Pilger, the founders of Virago Press, and Stephen and Hilary Rose taken by Format photographers have recently been acquired for the National Portrait Gallery\'s Collection.
Throughout its existence, Format Photographers maintained a varied client base, working for international magazines, small pressure groups, charities, publishers, television and national newspapers. In 2003, despite the Agency\'s many achievements, the difficult decision to close Format was reached. Like so many independent photographic agencies, Format was unable to compete in a growing market of downloadable stock photography agencies and the majority of its archive is now with Photofusion.
Website: www.npg.org.uk
www.photofusionpictures.org
PHOTOLIBRARY BUYS THE PETER ARNOLD COLLECTION
Photolibrary has announced the acquisition of New York-based Peter Arnold Inc.
Glenn Parker, Photolibrary Group CEO commented "The Peter Arnold collection will significantly enhance our content in the key specialty subject categories of science, medical and natural history.
Digital Economy Bill The British Association of Picture Libraries and Agencies (BAPLA) is urgently calling for proposed clause 116B in the Digital Economy Bill, which could mean photographers and image rights holders losing the right to have a say in how their work is used, by whom and at what price, to be scrapped. BAPLA is extremely concerned Extended Licensing schemes will be wholly detrimental to the photography and picture industry as it will enable bodies outside the industry to grant copyright licenses in which copyright is not owned by the body or a person on whose behalf the body acts. Thousands of companies whose role it is manage and market photography will, under these proposals, see their intellectual property rights as well as their living taken from them. The Bill is currently going through the House of Lords and these changes are due to be debated imminently. It is imperative that these issues are dealt with in the right way by seeking proper and thorough consultation with the rights holders it will affect and assessing the impact of changes on a system which is already fulfilling the role required in a more efficient way than the new proposals suggest. The creative industries have been operating against a background of copyright regulations that are growing hopelessly out of date in this new digital era and BAPLA applauds many parts of the Bill that support the longevity of our industry. But we view Clause 116B as economically unviable and would question its ability to work. Linda Royles, senior consultant to BAPLA, commented "There are some instances when photography transactions and relationships should and could be managed between clients and rights holders managed directly. However, there are 1000's of instances when photographs must and should not be used due to the associated rights. For example these instances could be determined by the photographer (e.g. not to be sold in the US or in connection with a political ideology), they may be contractually agreed by the person in an image (e.g. all uses of the image of a celebrity must be cleared by their agent) or the object, building or skyline that appears in the image cannot be used without the appropriate permissions being sought (e.g. use of a leading brand logo may be considered an infringement of trade mark and many buildings and landmarks need approval before they may be used in a commercial context). Extended Collective Licensing carelessly assumes that all images can be treated equally." Whilst the Bill currently provides for an individual photographer to opt out of a blanket scheme - it doesn't mean that their work will cease to be used in any extended collective licensing agreement. It just means that when you opt out you lose the right to claim the money that is being collected for the use of your work. This seems hardly fair; if you are against the principle of someone else having control over your work and your business, saying 'no' doesn't mean no. Many photographers do well from existing schemes that collect revenue, for example when a book is photocopied. So if these schemes are already running and in operation, it is unnecessary to single out one business model in law, in this Bill (116B) if the impact of this may be to the detriment of so many and the financial benefit of so few? Paul Brown, BAPLA Chairman adds, "This clause could potentially destroy the principle of direct licensing, which is the most efficient means of ensuring that a rights holder is remunerated exactly and properly for the use of their work, and lose creators the right to control their own economic and moral rights. Imagine a photographer losing control of every image they shoot. Imagine not being able to instruct anyone how you want your work marketed or respected. Imagine not being paid directly for an image usage, but having to claim for a random share of an unknown pot of money. This is completely untenable and unacceptable." BAPLA also supports calls for changes to clause 116A to find a solution to the licensing of orphan works without prejudicing the copyright of photographers and other rights holders.
The winner of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year award has been disqualified after judges ruled that the featured wolf was probably a "model". The 2009 winning image, dubbed the storybook wolf, was taken by photographer Jose Luis Rodriguez.
Action Plus Sports Images Announces Two New Initiatives An amended version of the Google Book Settlement was presented on Friday 13th November. CEPICS reaction in brief: In general, the main issue of the Google Book Settlement remains : it is a private commercial agreement handled behind closed doors, which not only amicably settles past disagreements but establishes a working framework for the future serving the special interests of one company. More importantly for CEPIC, the amended version does not address the main concern of our industry : disregard of copyright and authors rights. - The Settlement still allows Google to use and sell works on an opt-out basis - The Settlement excludes foreign works but does not go the whole way and keeps works published in the UK, Canada or Australia - The Settlement gives the newly created "Unclaimed Work Fiduciary" (UWF) extensive powers to set terms on behalf of authors of orphaned works - although by definition these authors are not in a position to have transferred their rights. Last but not least, the issue of illegally scanned photographs remains. If the Settlement is agreed, infringement on millions of photographs will retrospectively be legalised and the only solution for copyright holders will be to undertake long and costly legal procedures under worsened circumstances. The fact that 95% of European books are now excluded from the scope of the Settlement does not lessen its faults. The three major concerns expressed by CEPIC with regards to photographic rights are not addressed : (1) Revenue to Google (2) Black out of images (3) Weakening of photographic associations in any future negotiations. This article courtesy of CEPIC www.stockindexonline.com Bridgeman Now Representing New Zealand's National Museum Bridgeman, the fine art image library, is delighted to announce our representation of the archive of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (Te Papa), one of the largest national museums in the world. A bicultural museum operated in partnership with Mori and Pakeha (non-Mori, mainly of European descent), exhibitions are used to tell the stories of this young Pacific nation: its history, art and natural environment. For the first time high resolution images of artworks from the collection are accessible online at Bridgeman. New Zealand’s New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa collection shows that its greatest biological loss is 42 percent of its terrestrial birds since human settlement 700 years ago. Beautiful illustrations of these extinct birds make up part of the collection of images. It also includes b/w photographs of 1950s New Zealand by Eric Lee-Johnson. Website: www.bridgemanart.com www.stockindexonline.com Shutterstock Announces Acquisition of BigStockPhoto Shutterstock, the world's largest subscription-based stock photo agency, announced that it has acquired BigStockPhoto, a leading credit-based stock photo agency, headquartered in Davis, California. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. "With the addition of BigStockPhoto, one of the leading agencies for high quality, royalty-free stock photos, Shutterstock is able to expand into the global, credit-based market," said Adam Riggs, president and CFO of Shutterstock. "This move reinforces our leadership position in the stock photo industry, as it enables us to better serve the diverse payment preferences of stock photo buyers worldwide." According to the deal, BigStockPhoto will remain a separate entity, and Shutterstock plans to grow the company's global presence by investing heavily in marketing, infrastructure and user experience. BigStockPhoto was founded in 2004 to provide an alternative to high-priced stock photography, and to create a marketplace for photographers to sell their work. In addition to its diverse library of 3.7 Million royalty-free photos and vectors, the agency has created a vibrant community of image buyers and submitters from around the world.  This story courtesy of Stock Photo Talk www.stockindexonline.com Rex Features Represents Associated Newspapers Rex Features has made an agreement to represent the Associated Newspapers archive. In this collection, spanning over 100 years of the Daily Mail and including the Mail on Sunday and Evening Standard, Rex has taken on board some truly fantastic images including a comprehensive view of both World Wars, thousands of iconic images of sports people, politicians and celebrities, an extensive collection of royal photography from the coronation of King George VI to the present day and poignant snapshots of Great Britain throughout the years. This story courtesy of BAPLA Website: Rex Features www.stockindexonline.com Italian Agency Grazia Neri in Liquidation Grazia Neri Agency, one of the most prestigious Italian photo agencies, has been forced to enter into liquidation because of the ’extreme editorial and advertising crisis,’ BJP has learnt. ’After 42 years of excellence and integrity in the world of italian and international photography and photojournalism, Grazia Neri Agency is now compelled to enter into liquidation,’ writes executive director Michele Neri in a letter seen by BJP. ’The extreme editorial and advertising crisis that has started in the second half of 2008 and has exploded in 2009 has brought the agency to a severe financial crisis, with a decrease in sales of nearly 40%.’ This story courtesy of CEPIC Article : Italian agency Grazia Neri in liquidation (update) www.stockindexonline.com CEPIC Urges EU to Oppose Google US Book SettlementFive organisations representing EU publishers, libraries, rights holders as well as businesses active in Internet commerce told the European Commission today that the proposed US Google book settlement is unacceptable in its present form, saying the deal would lead to a de facto monopoly. "There is a genuine desire to find solutions but the proposed settlement is not the right approach," said David Wood, Legal Counsel to ICOMP, the Initiative for a Competitive Online Marketplace, at a joint briefing held by ICOMP, B?rsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, CEPIC, Internet Archive / Open Book Alliance and EBLIDA, the European Bureau of Library, Information and documentation Associations. The briefing took place ahead of a hearing in Brussels organised by the European Commission to scrutinise the deal. Website: CEPIC www.stockindexonline.com
A new image finder service from socialstock. The socialstock photographers supply the images from their own archives, or in some cases go out and shoot the said image, there is no extra cost if they do this. Images are then placed in the picture researchers own light-box for viewing. Suitable images can then be bought online and downloaded. Socialstock are offering PRA members a 10% discount on all images purchased in 2009.
National Portrait Gallery in Row with WikipediaThe National Portrait Gallery in London is threatening legal action against the U.S. based Wikipedia as it has displayed 3,300 high resolution images of artworks on its website. The NPG claims copyright in these works, and says that it will lose a large stream of revenue from licencing them in books magazines and new media, which it uses to fund further digitisation of its collection. Wikipedia volunteer Derrick Coetzee obtained the images by using software called "Zoomify" to tile together various high resolution images together. Wikipedia claim that the works are in the public domain and should be used for the benefit of many people across the world, not just those who are able to visit the gallery or see the lower resolution images online. UK Copyright law protects "derivative works", for example making a photographic copy of an out-of-copyright painting, so the digital or analogue image so produced is in copyright. Article: Wikipedia Painting Row Escalates Website: National Portrait Gallery www.stockindexonline.com Art Resource Hooks Up with Los Angeles County Museum of ArtNew York-based Art Resource, a speciality library featuring fine art imagery, has announced that it has been selected by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) to serve as its exclusive world-wide image rights and reproduction agent. LACMA joins a growing roster of over 130 major museums for which Art Resource is the exclusive representative. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is the largest art museum in the western United States and collections encompass virtually the entire history of art. Among the museum’s special strengths are its holdings of Asian art, Latin American art (ranging from pre-Columbian masterpieces to works by leading modern and contemporary artists including Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and Islamic art, of which LACMA hosts one of the most significant collections in the world. LACMA also boasts impressive collections of European and American painting, sculpture and decorative arts, as well as a strong collection of modern and contemporary art. www.stockindexonline.com New Photography Gallery Opens 15 July 2009 The TopFoto Gallery is a new space hosting regular photographic and visual image exhibitions of international, national and local interest. Opening the gallery is a superb, long-unseen exhibition of the work of the late John Topham, originally shown at the Impressions Gallery of Photography in York (1982) and then in the USA. Based in Edenbridge, Kent (45 minutes direct train from London Bridge) the TopFoto Gallery includes The Eden Valley Gallery for local exhibitions, as well as rare historic displays from the archives of House of Jaques, sports and games manufacturer since 1795 and still in the original family’s ownership and whose building houses the gallery. The Gallery is the initiative of TopFoto, a family-owned image library which began with John Topham’s collection, drawn from a lifetime of photographing the everyday life of Britain. Photographer John Topham (1908-1992), known as Top, left a legacy of an incredible 121,228 negatives, of which the first 20,000 or so are glass plates. He worked continually from 1931 to 1973, photographing the ‘little things of life – the way it really was’. It was during the Second World War that Top came into his own. By that time he was an established freelancer living in Sidcup, where much of the early air action took place. "It was a matter of going – or trying to go – where the trouble was," he recalled. "The nationals would ring up and say, ‘we hear there’s terrible damage at such and such a place. We can’t get there: can you?’" Topham, who also by this time had a contract with Life magazine, captured the mood and experiences of the civilian population. One extraordinary image - of children gazing up at the Battle of Britain from a trench dug to protect them in the hopfields of Kent - has been called "one of the most enduring images of the Second World War". It was used in a propaganda campaign that helped to convince millions of Americans to join the war against Nazi Germany. Website: www.topfotogallery.com www.stockindexonline.com Images of Different Locations All Over the UKlocalfoto.co.uk was formed in late 2008 by a keen photographer interested in photographs of local areas. Their goal is to provide the best quality local stock photos taken by local photographers who know the areas they are photographing well, these photographs are sold at a reasonable price given the quality. They are aiming to increase business throughout the rest of the year, to do this we need to recruit more photographers as well as attracting designers and potential customers. For designers/customers we offer quality images at reasonable prices that serve a variety of uses, from use in websites to posters and postcards, you can search by area e.g. photos of london or by subject e.g. photos of trees. For photographers they offer an opportunity to have their photographs viewed and sold, Photographers currently receive around 50% of the sale price so earnings are good. Website: www.localfoto.co.uk www.stockindexonline.com In Corbis “Storied”, Historic Images Spark Rich Reflections
To mark the company’s 20th anniversary Corbis has introduced Storied, an online experience that sheds new light on culturally and historically important photographs from the Corbis collection. Over the next few months, influential thinkers, writers, heroes, artists, and photographers will uncover hidden truths in iconic images and reframe the historic moments. Their personal insights, expressed through text, audio, or video elements, will reveal hidden truths about the images and illuminate the events, places, and personalities they capture. “I\'ve always believed that it\'s the photographs, not just words, that help us better understand history. Most people won\'t remember but a few lines from each President – but the pictures stay with us,” said Dana Perino, White House Press Secretary for President George W. Bush. “I was honoured to be asked to participate in the Storied project, and I hope that I shed some perspective on the photographs of President Bush that will give them more context.” Storied launched today with:
“We’re honoured to collaborate with such a dynamic group of people and hear them share some of their treasured stories with us,” said Tammy Wing, VP, North American Marketing, Corbis. “A glance at a photo can instantly take you back to a moment in time, and it’s been fascinating to have photos from the Corbis archive revive distant and unexpected memories from our commentators.” Website: www.corbis.com/storied www.stockindexonline.com Christina Vaughan new President of CEPIC
On 3 June 2009, the CEPIC Committee was renewed. stockindexonline.com
MILE Conference Dublin 2009: Multilingual Keywording The MILE conference in Dublin in April was on the subject of multilingual keywording. www.electriclane.co.uk/metadata/dv2dl6pl6.html New search engine from Microsoft - Bing - Bing is the new search engine from Microsoft. Claims to be not just a search engine but a "decision engine". It can search images and videos, as well as maps, news and shopping www.bing.com
The Picture Research Association Box 105 Hampstead House 176, Finchley Road, London NW3
07771982308 www.picture-research.org.uk |
