Lawrence Schiller Talks to Elizabeth Avedon

Link: Lawrence Schiller Talks to Elizabeth Avedon | Le Journal de la Photographie

“When Bob Jackson shot the famous picture of Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald, I was in the basement but I didn’t get a clear shot. I went to the newspaper and I saw the print coming out of the hypo. I turned to the Picture Editor of the newspaper and asked, ‘What rights are already committed?’ He said, ‘AP owns the newspaper rights and we’re running the front page.’ I said, ‘Well, who owns magazine rights world-wide?’ He said, ‘Nobody does.’ I immediately say, ‘Newspaper rights – that’s different than magazine rights. How’s $10,000?’ He said fine, so I bought world magazine rights. I don’t call the editor and I take the first print, turn it over and I copyright it in my handwriting in Bob Jackson’s name. I have to have that print, the original print, the first print made off that negative, on single weight glossy paper at the newspaper. So it’s a combination, Schiller the photographer and Schiller the businessman.

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