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Please send in your news articles or snippets for publication here. After Months of Pressure, Photolibrary Promises to Pay Index Stock DebtsPhotolibrary is at last moving to contact, report and pay their Index contributors outstanding debts the company assumed when it purchased Index Stock in October 2006. Over the past few weeks, Index contributors have told SAA that Photolibrary is now acknowledging debts dating as far back as 2001. Contributors who received payment tell SAA the amounts match what was itemized on statements they received in November from Photolibrary's former controller, Carlos Santos. The company had described those statements as "invalid" and "worthless," and fired Santos for sending them to contributors. Now, Photolibrary is validating Santos by paying contributors the exact amounts detailed by him. Multiple Parties File Grievances Photolibrary's actions follows growing pressure from artists and industry trade associations. Over the past six weeks, Santos, several photographers and archive owners all filed grievances with the Picture Archive Council of America. The complaints focused on Photolibrary's mishandling of past-due royalties. On Jan. 4, SAA also filed a formal grievance with the PACA Ethics Committee, supported by fellow artists' associations ASMP, APA, EP and CAPIC. Artist Contact Information Lacking SAA is concerned many Index contributors may not yet have heard from Photolibrary, since the company admitted in a December press release it lacked current email addresses for 40 percent of them. This means that nearly 700 artists never received any communication (or payment) from Photolibrary since they acquired Index Stock more than 15 months back. SAA therefore urges any past and present Index contributors who have not heard from Photolibrary to contact the company directly. SAA Seeks Accountability SAA has repeatedly urged Photolibrary to provide every Index Stock contributor with a full and accurate accounting of all outstanding debt and promptly pay in full all outstanding commissions. This is now reportedly happening, and we consider it encouraging news for Index artists. However, this does not resolve the serious issues that have come to light. SAA has a history of working productively and positively with stock distributors, serving as ombudsman for our members. This included what started as a positive relationship with Photolibrary in which SAA shared information and provided updates about the company with our membership. "The problems started," explains SAA President Zave Smith, "when SAA learned of the allegations by the company's controller. We immediately contacted Photolibrary and sought to help, working discreetly in our ombudsman role. Our Board and ombudsman urged the company to conduct a limited accounting review with a group of contributors willing to share records." Adds Smith, "Photolibrary responded by dismissing both Santos's allegations and SAA's suggestions. It became clear the company had repeatedly misinformed SAA about the status of their KPMG audit and their pledges that all past Index debts to contributors had been paid many months ago. Other troubling questions about Photolibrary's accounting procedures and policies were also raised and deserve explanation." SAA continues to seek full accountability from Photolibrary on behalf of contributing artists, and by serving as ombudsman and advocate, to help ensure ethical business practices within the stock industry at all levels. For further information, see: http://www.stockartistsalliance.org/info/news/news_photolibrary.htm Contact: Zave Smith, SAA Board President president@stockartistsalliance.org Betsy Reid, SAA Executive Director betsy@stockartistsalliance.org About SAA The Stock Artists Alliance (SAA) is the only trade association dedicated to the business interests of professional stock photographers, supporting its members with information resources and ongoing advocacy initiatives. More information about SAA is available at: www.stockartistsalliance.org © Stock Artists Alliance. All rights reserved. News Link Could Getty Images fetch more than $1.5 Billion? News Article The Ronald Grant Archive is facing closureOne of Britain's most eccentric museums, a treasure trove of cinema nostalgia collected by one man over 60 years, is facing closure after being told to vacate its premises in six months.  The Ronald Grant Cinema Museum is an Aladdin's cave of ashtrays, carpets, chandeliers, curtains, 'house full' signs, light fittings, popcorn cartons, projectors, tickets and ushers' uniforms from cinemas demolished long ago. It also boasts a colossal archive of books, films, financial accounts, magazines, sheet music and around a million photographs crammed from floor to ceiling. The walls are adorned with posters for classic movies such as Mutiny on the Bounty and The Smallest Show on Earth. Grant, now 71, fell in love with film as a boy, helping the manager of his village cinema in Banchory near Aberdeen, and has spent a lifetime amassing the collection. It is housed in Lambeth, south London, in a former workhouse built in 1871 where Charlie Chaplin stayed as a child, and which became part of Lambeth Hospital in 1920. Now the building's owner, the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, has terminated the museum's tenancy so that it can sell the entire complex, estimated at more than 1,500 square metres. The museum is appealing for benefactors to help it find a new home by the March deadline. "It's mindblowing that we don't have anywhere to move to,' said Martin Humphries, the museum's co-director. 'We've put out feelers to see if we can find somewhere. It's a headache because we want to move in as economic a way as possible, but the size and fragile nature of the collection means we can't pay a professional company to do it in its entirety. Not knowing where we'll be in six months' time is depressing. The ideal would be somewhere more accessible than now, but if it's smaller then the collection might have to be broken up and dispersed to like-minded people. If we can't find anywhere suitable, we'll have to close. It would be wonderful if there was someone out there with a love of cinema who would like to offer help and support." Humphries added that he did not blame the NHS trust for ordering the move. "They've done what they're expected to do: rationalise their assets. The building is no longer suitable for NHS use. The knock-on effect is that we're homeless. The NHS trust is not being difficult, but if we haven't found somewhere and they insist on us moving out, it might look different." The move could work to the cramped museum's advantage if it finds a more prominent and user-friendly location. It is currently one of London's best-kept secrets, tucked away in a quiet cul-de-sac well off the tourist trail, and visits are by appointment only. It is popular with historians and researchers, and generates revenue by syndicating pictures from its vast library to newspapers and magazines. Its patrons include film director Ken Loach and Labour MP Gerald Kaufman. The tightly packed exhibits include a Kalee film projector from the Thirties, stacks of the Kine Weekly film magazine, wooden category boards which used an 'H' to signify a horror film and some original negatives shot by Sagar Mitchell and James Kenyon, whose footage of everyday life in late Victorian and early Edwardian Britain was rediscovered in 2002 and became a hit for the BBC. There is even a rare print of a film by the British director Michael Powell lying in storage. Among Grant's favourite possessions is an ashtray made for a 1931 Sherlock Holmes film, an accounts book showing that a cinema pianist was drunk and had to be replaced, and the original negative of an 1896 film entitled A Victorian Lady in Her Boudoir in which an actress performs a striptease. Richard Morley, spokesman for the NHS Trust, said: "The building is very old with a high upkeep cost. The plan is to sell off the building and put the money back into the trust as part of the state strategy looking to rationalise services". David Smith Sunday October 14, 2007 The Observer For more information contact: The Ronald Grant Archive The Masters House, 2 Dugard Way, London SE11 4TH. Tel +44 (0) 20 7840 2200 Fax +44 (0) 20 7840 2299 The Ronald Grant Archive provides financial support to The Cinema Museum News Article
Another court says heirs don't have publicity rights to Marilyn photos May 17, 2007 By David Walker A federal court in California has rejected a right of publicity claim by Marilyn Monroe’s estate, one week after a federal court in New York issued a similar ruling. Both decisions effectively clear the way for commercial use of images of Marilyn Monroe without permission from the estate, Marilyn Monroe LLC, or its agent, CMG Worldwide of Indianapolis, Indiana. To read more - Go to this page at PDN Online Photo District News News Article J K Rowling loses legal battle for privacy against 13 Aug 2007 The Harry Potter author has lost her legal battle to defend the privacy of her son from photographers. A long lens photograph was taken of Rowling and her family out walking in an Edinburgh street in November 2004. They were not aware that the image had been taken until it appeared in the Sunday Express in April 2005. In turning down Rowling’s request for an injunction against further publication of the photograph, Mr Justice Patten stated that “…the law does not in my judgment (as it stands) allow them to carve out a press-free zone for their children in respect of absolutely everything they choose to do. Even after Von Hannover there remains, I believe, an area of routine activity which when conducted in a public place carries no guarantee of privacy. In my view this is just such a case." Leave to appeal has been granted, and, as Rowling is staunch defender of her privacy, the case is expected to continue. Source: Swan Turton  Picture Research Association
(Business Hours 9.00 am - 5.00 pm UK time Monday to Friday) c/o 1 Willow Court, off Willow St, London EC2A 4QB, UK www.picture-research.org.uk |
