March 15, 2011 by pmelcher.

It used to be that photojournalism could be done by everyone. Lately, this seem to have shifted.

When Bob Capa decided to go cover the Spanish civil war, he took with him ( or was it the opposite ?), photographer Gerda Taro. Probably because she died much earlier than Capa ( in 1937), her work is less extensive and much lesser known.

When Margaret Bourke - White photographed the Death Camps at the end of World War II for Life magazine, no one cared if she was a woman or not. Her images told the story and that was that.

Today, more and more, it seems that photojournalism wants to define itself by its gender. More and more, do you see cooperative, workshop, panels, etc for women photographers only. As if your gender was  influential in your photo-journalistic process . Who are we trying to fool ?

I have worked with many, many women photojournalist and I can tell you that if i hadn’t known, I would have never been able to tell the gender by just looking at the images. There is the same talent, or lack of, whether you wear a skirt or not .

It seems that political correctness has now started to reach the shores of the previously sexless island of photography. It appears that some people, with a highly develop social conscience, want you to know what sex was that photographer whose picture you admire. As if it made any difference.

Readers hardly read a photo credit, so why would they care ? Photo editors, the talented ones at least, a gender blind as long as the story is perfectly visually told. So who is behind this and why ?

And if was this was such an issue, why not create a group for black photographers, Jewish photographers, Muslim photographers, gay photographers, or left handed photographers ?

It is bad enough that photographers find the need to categorize themselves in one activity ( Sports, fashion, news, celebrity, etc..) but now they will also have to pick an appropriate social group ?

Why ?

To protect their photographer group against other photographer groups ? Or to make some kind of stupid statement that women photographers are better than men photojournalist ? or have more sensibility ? or are more tuned in other people misery ? Or is it to influence women photo editors to hire women photographers first because of gender wars ?

This self segregation of an already endangered species of artisan is not only ridiculous but pointless and harmful. It will only lead to creating a unnecessary distraction to those who only want to create, publish or view great images.

Posted in magazine, Waste of time, celebrity, No sense, editorial, photojournalism, news | Print | 1 Comment »

March 9, 2011 by pmelcher.

A dream come true : your image being used everywhere. A nightmare come true : you don’t get a penny while others are. A frightening true life example of what happens to your photographs in the XXI.

The Stolen Scream: A Story About Noam Galai from FStoppers on Vimeo.

The question is : was the image labeled CC on Flickr ? If so, it could have led to this worldwide free loading feeding frenzy. How can this be prevented ? how do we instruct people to, at least, ask permission before using an image?

What is interesting is the photographers’ reaction. While he is clearly unhappy about the situation, instead of suing everyone, he has resolve to using the situation to publicize himself ( see his website here : http://www.thestolenscream.com/)  and reverse claiming  ownership of his image.

Smart, very smart. He might just end up on top.

Posted in license, Social Media, Search, web 2.0, editorial, flickr, getty | Print | 2 Comments »

March 5, 2011 by pmelcher.

Is it the end of microstock and royalty free ? No, not because of decline in usage but rather as a result of powerful litigation. A french organization certainly thinks so.

The Union des Photographes Professionels , UPP (Union of professional photographers) just recently held a round table 0n the damages of royalty free, it’s damages to the photographic trade and what they intend to do about it.

We can skip the part where they talk about royalty free and it’s damages to the industry as we have all heard it before and there nothing new here. Rather, the panel gets interesting when the lawyer, Maitre Jean Vincent speaks. He explains that after months, years of careful study, they have found various aspect of the law that they can use to challenge royalty free. A couple we found noteworthy was deceptive advertising and pricing. let’s review:

French law designated as void  any sale of goods, product and services that is priced at infinitesimal price.  For example, if one was to purchase one image on Istockphoto for let’s say $5 and use this image for a book, a magazine, an ad campaign, a brochure, on a TV set, in a Movie set, over and over again for 70 years ( life of a copyright), it would amount for less than a cent per usage. Under this law, that pricing is so low that it would not constitute a sale. Thus become illegal. Furthermore, even a third party, not involve in the transaction, can bring this sale to court and have it voided. Nothing in France can be sold for a derisory price, even if both parties accept. Anyone can condemn such a sale, which is exactly what UPP intends to do against the microstock agencies licensing in France.

The second is deceptive advertising. Royalty free, in French, is translated by “libre de droits”, brutally translated to “Free of any kind of rights”. Maitre Jean Vincent explains that definition is deceptive and not true : Royalty free images are neither rights free nor free of royalties. Again, grounds for a legal action.

The organization is  seriously involved in bringing a couple of RF companies - Fotolia seems their primary target - to court in order to create legal precedent. That would facilitate the process for the rest.

Those outside of France might be smiling right now thinking this is more kakaboula crap coming out of the country of whiners. Not so fast.

Remenber that story, Save the Passport photo ? Well, they just have won. President Sarkozy has just agreed to remove all remaining free passport photo machines located in city halls across France ( about 1,000). This will force people to get their passport pictures to be taken by approved professionals.

France is not a consumer oriented economy. Rather, it is strongly entrenched in a long tradition of protecting trades, regardless of their public utility. Thus, there is a good chance that the UPP might win their legal challenge and force Royalty Free companies ( microstock included) to readjust their commercial approach ( raising prices, adjust their license agreements). Some might even close, not seeing any profitability in the new environment.

Could this spread out in other countries ? The challenge could be elevated to become a European issue and, depending on the politics of the time, certainly pass. However, it would take a long time and allow RF companies to find new ways to market themselves. The US ? Doubtful, as this Adam Smith based economy revers its consumers as semi-gods and would never impair in their ability to get “a good deal”

Nevertheless, this is a new development in what seemed the finished war between RF and RM. It could also be the last salvo.

Posted in copyright, commercial stock, license, CEPIC, transaction, france | Print | No Comments »

March 1, 2011 by pmelcher.

The fire has been put out, at least for now. According to an article on the BJP, maitre Gorrias has clearly said he will not destroy the images that are now under his control.

It  still remains very important that those photographers who suspect they have images in the Sygma archives ( and who have not signed an agreement with Corbis) to reach Maitre Gorrias and ask for them to be returned.

Maître Stéphane Gorrias

SCP BTSG

1 place Boieldieu

75002 Paris – France

Posted in finance, france, law, corbis | Print | 2 Comments »