June 8, 2009 by pmelcher.

well, not really…but amusing. Instead of waiting for someone, somewhere, to figure out how to price newspapers online,  The Newport Daily News ( In Rhode Island, USA)  just nailed it.

Newport Daily News: Charging for news online from Nieman Journalism Lab on Vimeo.

Posted in newspaper, license, technology, photojournalism, finance, editorial, transaction, news | Print | No Comments »

June 7, 2009 by pmelcher.

Photographer Jehad Nga’s ‘My Shadow, My Opponent”. Love the way he plays with the light, and the shadows.

enjoy here:

Posted in multimedia, magazine, photojournalism, slideshow, editorial, news | Print | No Comments »

June 5, 2009 by pmelcher.

It is interesting to see how the web is allowing for organic communities to form independently.

Take Gaia photo, a website created  by documentary photographers to post their stories. Part multi-author blog, part photo gallery, it allows for photographers to publish their work, with comments, for everyone to see.

It bypasses established and traditional media by reaching directly to the public. It is not afraid to show the world as it is because it doesn’t have to deal with the auto censure the majority or our magazines or website display. Since it seems to be supported mostly by Google ads, it does not have to worry about advertisers worried about the content.

It’s raw, it’s pure , and it is sincere. There is a mix of well known and lesser well known photographers currently contributing and I am sure more will join. The stories are unequal. Some very good, some not. Not very important since they seem to have created an outlet for their work to be seen, beyond the doors of the gatekeepers. Two regrets : No multimedia ( it might be in their plans) and no happy, positive stories.

Too often, documentary photography is associated with death, famine, war and overall misery. It makes it very hard for people to follow. Their are great inspiring stories too that should be shown. There are beautiful things happening in this world and that would also be nice to show. maybe that is also in their project.

Anyway, take a look and support them. They deserve it. (Click on the image below)

Posted in multimedia, magazine, newspaper, web 2.0, photojournalism, editorial | Print | No Comments »

June 4, 2009 by pmelcher.

There is something very puzzling about this whole Orphan works bill and what is implied. The gist of it says that if a user cannot identify the owner of an image, he/she can legally use it without suffering a huge penalty. In a nutshell.  Hear me out.

One of the biggest issue here is that it appears to make the owner of the Copyright solely responsible for having his/her work properly credited and making sure it stays that way.

The majority of the time, an image in its digital format, leaves the server of its owner fully captioned and properly credited. Along the lines of production, purposely or not, the metadata gets violently separated from its image. Either by the action of software or by the hands of humans. Sometimes, the credit reappears geographically near the image and stays there. Sometimes it doesn’t. If it doesn’t, the copyright owner could find himself smacked in the head with an Orphan Work issue although he took all precautions possible.

Whose to blame ? The publishers. Are they liable in any way ? Absolutely not. Although they can create a troublingcircumstance to a law abiding photographer, they are not legally responsible if they strip the source information from a file. Why is that ? After all, they are the ones who can make a file orphan. They are the ones that cut the copyright umbilical cord.

So, even if a photographer explicitly and tirelessly  informs his images with the proper information, there is no guarantee that it will stay there.

Now, now, you will say. There is the DMCA ( Digital Millennium Copyright Act ) that specifically says :

`(b) REMOVAL OR ALTERATION OF COPYRIGHT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION- No person shall, without the authority of the copyright owner or the law–

• `(1) intentionally remove or alter any copyright management information,

• `(2) distribute or import for distribution copyright management information knowing that the copyright management information has been removed or altered without authority of the copyright owner or the law, or

• `(3) distribute, import for distribution, or publicly perform works, copies of works, or phonorecords, knowing that copyright management information has been removed or altered without authority of the copyright owner or the law,

knowing, or, with respect to civil remedies under section 1203, having reasonable grounds to know, that it will induce, enable, facilitate, or conceal an infringement of any right under this title.

Indeed it does create liability. If it is done on purpose. Which is not, most of the time. Simple image manipulation does frequently and inadvertently erase all information . And the image is orphan. Furthermore, for photographers and agencies who license a lot of images, it is impossible to track easily. What, you are going to download all your image used to see if the metadata is still there ? And if not, what exactly are you going to do?  Sue your clients for something they might have not done on purpose. In this economy ?

You get the point. The Orphan works bill might make this clause more frequently used, although, I beleive, a take down is all you can legally request. But its not going to solve the issue.What will, is if our friends who are so desperately trying to create standards, would actually enforce these standards and make it a requirement that no software can and should remove metadata without active participation of a conscious human being. It should actually be a law, or an addendum to the DMA.

it should read : REMOVAL OR ALTERATION OF COPYRIGHT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION- No person OR Software shall, without the authority of the copyright owner or the law–intentionally remove or alter any copyright management information, bla bla bla..

And any application that interface with images should be DMA compliant and have a great big green sticker on it to claim it. Now, that would solve a lot of issues and make the Orphan Works bill much easier for everyone to accept.

Posted in copyright, commercial stock, IPTC, keyword, law, editorial, Microstock | Print | No Comments »

June 3, 2009 by pmelcher.

If you are at CEPIC this week, in the lovely city of Dresden, Germany, here are few people you HAVE to see. If you are not going, no problem, they all have a website too.

WorldAssignement.com: Brainchild of Pierre Pankotay, serial entrepreneur , WA is a new platform that finally brings photo agencies and Photo editors together. On a worldwide level. The idea is simple and the execution brilliant. Say you are a photo editor in one country seeking to get a job done in another country. Thanks to WA, you can do a search on multiple fields, based on your needs, and find the appropriate photographer at the appropriate location with exactly the right skills. Since all the photographers in the database belong to a photo agency, you are guaranteed a pre-screening and not fall on some over confident schmuck.

From now on, it will be easy for a magazine, lets say in South Africa, to find a photographer that has diving skills and speak fluent polish equipped with an Olga for a photo shoot in Brazil. A few clicks away easy. Quality guaranteed. More info at worldassignment.com.

PixTrakk : About to be launched by the team behind Pixpalace France and USA, PixTrakk will finally help photo agencies track usage of their images whether in Print or on the web. Because PixTrakk is created by people who have triple experience in publishing, photo agency and technology, it is poised to quickly become an absolute necessity for any photo agency looking to automated their billing or simply keep track of where their images have been published. A combination of three technology power houses, LTU Technologies, TNS Media and Pixpalace, Pixtrakk will finally give user an option not to use the obscenely expensive PixID from Iphone App company Idee, inc. It is scheduled to be launched in September.

Not sure if they have a table but Keedup, New Zealand  based keywording company, is also  ready to change the market. Already well established in editorial keywording, it has launched a specialized service for celebrity agencies. The concept is revolutionary in so much as not every type of agency should use the same standard of keywords, as it is currently done. The markets, thus researchers, use completely different sets of keywords, depending on what market they work in. Yet most keywording companies apply the same rules whether the images are Sports, news or Commercial Stock. The world is about customization, its about time keywording is too.

Of course, you can also waste a whole day attending the IPTC summit and learn some more nothing about nothing or listen to some heated debate  between people you have never heard about about topics you really do not care about. The choice is yours.

Posted in idee, magazine, technology, commercial stock, celebrity, IPTC, CEPIC, web 2.0, keyword, HOLGA, editorial | Print | No Comments »

June 2, 2009 by pmelcher.

Sometimes people make deals with each other and they don’t tell anyone. Usually, that means they are not proud of what they have done or they are hiding something. Or both.

Take Corbis and Retna USA. They made some type of arrangement but have yet to issue a press release to announce it. A bit like BuzzFoto and Getty, someone is ashamed of the other, or at least to make it public.

Regardless, now you can find Retna images on the Corbis site. It is probably the same deal that Corbis had made with Zuma a few years back.  The restrictions are clear :

• Not available for licensing to or for use by third parties in Japan.
• Not available for licensing to or for use by third parties in Australia.
• Not available for licensing to or for use by third parties in Germany.
• Not available for licensing to or for use by third parties in Spain.
• Not available for licensing to or use by third parties in Finland.
• Not available for licensing to or for use by third parties in Sweden.
• Not available for licensing to or use by third parties in Denmark.
• Not available for licensing to or for use by third parties in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.
• Not available for “royalty free” licensing.

That is probably because some distribution agreements could not be ended. At least not quickly enough.

So what is the big deal you say ? It is becoming more and more current. Smaller agencies use the distribution power of the big two to get more clients. Well, unlike commercial stock, the prices of editorial are very low. After the commission of Corbis and Retna, the photographers are left with not much. Usually, editorial photo agencies that go down that route, are admitting failure. Retna has been in business for 20 + years, longer than Corbis has been around losing money. It should be the opposite, no ? Corbis seeking help from Retna.

But you are right, it’s not a big deal. let’s go see what is on PDN today.

Posted in technology, commercial stock, magazine, celebrity, editorial, corbis | Print | No Comments »