Time is running out for employers and workers to help Skillset shape the future of

the sector by taking part in the largest consultation of the Creative Media

Industries.

The 2010 Creative Media Workforce and Employer Surveys will provide the most

comprehensive profile of working life in the UK's Creative Media Industries. They

will also provide an assessment of how the industry is faring in the current global

economic climate.

The deadline for people to take part has now been extended to Thursday, 30

September. Simply visit

skillset>

Employers and workers will be asked about their skills needs, experience of training

and recruitment, future plans and working patterns. Findings will be used to

directly inform Skillset's ongoing work with the Creative Media Industries - and

make sure they remain a world leader.

They will, for example, help Skillset to pinpoint future training support, issues

affecting the sector and spot trends that could lead to skills shortages or

over-supply. The Sector Skills Council will tailor interventions and allocate

funding to have the most significant immediate benefit to the sector.

Skillset's unparalleled resource of labour market information has also been

instrumental in informing debate about broad issues that are affecting our

industries.

Skillset's chief executive, Dinah Caine, said: "These surveys play such an important

role for the whole of the Creative Media sector. They directly and quickly shape all

of our work with our industries, including planning future training support,

pinpointing skills gaps and determining what more we can do to make sure our sector

remains a world leader."

Nick Sheridan Skillset

pap AGENCIES MAKE A STAND TO SAVE IMAGE PRICING DOWNWARD TREND

The Hollywood Reporter has an exclusive report suggesting a band of paparazzi agencies has got together to fight for payment of images used on publishers iPad apps.

'The publishing world's headlong rush to Apple's iPad has hit a big hitch.

More than a dozen of the photo agencies that supply celebrity snapshots from the paparazzi are banding together to withhold their prized product unless it can get additional compensation from People magazine, resulting in the postponement of its iPad app.'

Read the full report here: Hollywoodreporter.com
Will Carleton Photoarchive News

From the CEPIC blog.... 'The Picture Industry is getting smaller'

Although one additional European national association, SAPHIR from France, has joined us this year and the number of Affiliates has remained stable, CEPIC now claims not over a thousand but less than 900 picture sources......

...........The shift from print copies to digital copies has significantly reduced the revenues within the industry, while the costs of this transition and digital assets protection remain high. Picture agencies have adapted to the new technologies but at the CEPIC conference, it became evident that there is still no clear view on how to monetise these changes........

Full report from Sylvie Fodor at the CEPIC blog

Will Carleton Photoarchive News

The Beat Hotel, photographs by Harold Chapman is showing at the Proud Chelsea gallery, 161 Kings Road, London until 29 August 2010. Limited edition prints, signed by Harold Chapman, are available from £350 ex VAT for the duration.

For more detail, photos of the opening night and a link to the Chapman BBC interview visit: topfotogallery.com

Will Carleton Photoarchive News

London based photo agency Camera Press have announced an exclusive UK partnership with Paris based editorial photo agency Agence VU'

VU’ was started in 1986 and provides news, features and commissioned work from around the world.

BAPLA on the move

After many years at Vine Hill in North London, the office of the British Association of Picture Libraries and Agencies (BAPLA) has temporarily moved south of the river into the Mary Evans building in Blackheath. The BAPLA telephone number will remain the same on 020 7713 1780, as will the website, www.bapla.org.uk, and email addresses. The new fax number is 020 8852 7211, and the address as of now will be that of Mary Evans Picture Library: 59 Tranquil Vale, Blackheath, London, SE3 0BS.

We extend a warm welcome to BAPLA and hope they find their new surroundings congenial.

7 July 2010

PRA Website

The Picture Research Association are launching their new website later this year.

Mary Evans

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Mary Evans. Along with her husband Hilary, Mary founded the Library in 1964.

By this time Mary and Hilary were already avid collectors of old books, pictures and ephemera covering a wide range of subjects. While showing off their collection to a friend one day, it was suggested that they might turn their hobby into a business, and so the Mary Evans Picture Library was born.

Over the past 46 years it has grown relentlessly, not only because of Mary and Hilary's continuing passion for collecting and eye for an image, but also thanks to Mary's business acumen. Today it is recognised as one of the leading sources of historical imagery for editorial and commercial use, with clients all over the world.

Mary was also instrumental in the foundation of BAPLA (the British Association of Picture Libraries and Archives) and in the setting up of the Picture Research Association. In 2007 she was the recipient of BAPLA's Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her outstanding achievement and her lifelong contribution to the industry.

The citation said, "A founder member of BAPLA in 1975, Mary has worked tirelessly for the good of the industry, picture researchers, and the preservation of cultural heritage for more than fifty years".

As well as the Library, Mary had several other passions. She was a devout dog person: never going anywhere without her dogs, who were ever-present in the Library. In 2003, she was delighted to be able to acquire the celebrated Thomas Fall Archive of historic dog images which have proved immensely popular with publishers. She was also a great collector of children's books, images from which now form a staple of the Library's collection.

Mary was also a music student, a watercolour painter, and, with the Library moving to premises in Blackheath Village where it remains, became a strong supporter of community initiatives in and around Blackheath.

Mary Evans

Getty to acquire Rex
Getty Images announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Rex Features, which includes Los Angeles-based Berliner Photography.Getty Images intends to maintain Rex Features’ brand and with the combined resources of Getty Images and Rex Features, Getty Images will continue to generate new imagery for their respective celebrity and entertainment collections. Additionally, Getty Images’ global distribution channels will increase international customers’ access to Rex Features’ products and services.

Photoarchive News Posted by Will Carleton Rex to Getty

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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.

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Action Plus Sports Images Announces Two New Initiatives



Action Plus Sports Images, based in London and one of the oldest sports event photography companies in the United Kingdom, today announced two new enhancements for their clients and worldwide agency channel.

The first announcement is a brand new web site which now has integrated editorial and commercial sports images online, a new personalized home page (select sporting galleries), very advanced search facility (by years, sports, editorial/commercial and many other selectors), ‘hover-over’ magnification, on-line pricing and many other new and enhanced features.

In addition, Action Plus has released a brand new rights managed sports event imagery collection, named ‘COMPETE’. Stephen Hearn, Managing Director of Action Plus said today ‘The development of this new commercial rights managed sports collection and the new website which provides our clients with an easy and powerful way to find and license images in either editorial or commercial uses were the two major expansion programs for Action Plus when we acquired the company earlier this year. We are pleased to launch both projects alongside each other and feel that the new collection is a ‘best of breed’ for sports images in commercial licensing’.

The new COMPETE collection will be provided to an international distribution channel which presently numbers 35 agencies in specific countries. Launched with 5000 images, it is expected to expand to 10,000 in the next 12 months.

Website: www.actionplus.co.uk

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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

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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

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CEPIC Urges EU to Oppose Google US Book Settlement

Five 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

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National Portrait Gallery in Row with Wikipedia

The 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