Today’s media is ruled by a handful of corporations with enormous market power. One thing that makes these companies so valuable is how few people they employ, relatively speaking, for each dollar earned. A New York Times analysis last year found that Facebook makes just a hair under $635,000 in profit for each of its 25,000 employees. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, makes about $158,000 per worker. (At Walmart, it’s $4,288.) These calculations often get spun as representing a victory for automation and algorithms—machines, rather than humans, creating value. But the truth is, these media companies have billions of people working for them—they’re just not on staff. Whenever you post a photo on Instagram, write an Amazon review, or skim through complaints about potholes on your neighborhood’s Facebook group, you’re helping generate profit for the world’s richest corporations. A growing movement is making the case that you ought to get paid for it.
That’s it; it’s done. The European Directive on Copyright is passed, and along with it, the infamous “Article 13”, now Article 17 in the latest document. However, what will it mean for photo agencies and independent photographers?
That’s it; it’s done. The European Directive on Copyright is passed, and along with it, the infamous “Article 13”, now Article 17 in the latest document. However, what will it mean for photo agencies and independent photographers?
The future of Google News in Europe is now in doubt as EU member states approved The EU Copyright Directive. The new law – which could see Google having to pay publishers to include brief snippets in search results – was previously passed by the European Parliament, but was subject to approval by individual countries.
Back in 2016, we wrote about two separate lawsuits involving claims that Getty Images was selling “licenses” to images it had no rights to sell licenses to. The first one was brought by photographer Carol Highsmith, who sued Getty after…
Well, now we’ve got another lawsuit against Getty over allegedly licensing public domain images. This one was brought by CixxFive Concepts, and… also seems to be a stretch. How much of a stretch? Well, it starts out by alleging RICO violations, and as Ken “Popehat” White always likes to remind everyone: IT’S NOT RICO, DAMMIT. This lawsuit is also not RICO and it’s not likely to get very far.
On Tuesday, the media industry got some help on that front with the European parliament’s adoption of a copyright law that requires technology platforms to sign licensing agreements with musicians, authors and news publishers in order to post their work online.
The U.S. Supreme Court has denied photographer Co Rentmeester’s petition for a hearing on his copyright claim against Nike. The high court announced its decision this morning, but gave no reason for its refusal to hear the case. The Supreme Court’s decisi
The U.S. Supreme Court has denied photographer Co Rentmeester’s petition for a hearing on his copyright claim against Nike. The high court announced its decision this morning, but gave no reason for its refusal to hear the case.
A Florida businessman accused by photographer Tom Hussey of copyright infringement has struck back, accusing Hussey of committing “fraud on the court” by repeatedly suing over a photograph that isn’t properly registered. The defendant, Charles Ngo of Miam
A Florida businessman accused by photographer Tom Hussey of copyright infringement has struck back, accusing Hussey of committing “fraud on the court” by repeatedly suing over a photograph that isn’t properly registered. The defendant, Charles Ngo of Miami, charges Hussey and the image tracking service ImageRights International with “shaking down people for money where there is no such entitlement.”
The Republican National Committee has fended off a copyright claim in Montana, convincing a judge that unauthorized use of an image to criticize a Democratic candidate was fair use. In a decision that will upset photographers and copyright advocates, Montana judge Dana L. Christensen sided with the Republican National Committee (RNC) in a 2017 lawsuit filed by Missoula, Montana-based photographer Erika Peterman. Peterman accused the RNC of willful copyright infringement for their use of Peterman’s photo of congressional candidate Rob Quist in a mailer that criticized and mocked Quist, a Democrat. The RNC argued fair use, and the court agreed, saying the RNC had transformed the work and had not undermined Peterson’s ability to profit from the image in the future.
“The fish is the last to know about the water”: Fred Ritchin argues photographers don’t realize how the media environment in which they work has changed.
What can professional photographers do to make sure their photos are not only seen but also trusted? Fred Ritchin, dean emeritus of the International Center of Photography and author, addressed what he called “the post-photographic challenge” at a salon, sponsored by Visura, the visual storytelling platform and grantmaker. Ritchin has been decrying the erosion of the public trust in photography since 1982, when National Geographic scanned and retouched a cover photo to move two pyramids at Giza closer together. The crisis of confidence is more acute now, at a time when the U.S. President and his supporters dismiss news they don’t like as “fake,” and AI can fabricate images of people and events (Ritchin showed several AI-generated “portraits” on the website thispersondoesnotexist.com).
A Kodak-owned photo assignment agency is requiring its participating photographers to relinquish all copyrights and moral rights to all assignment images—including outtakes. Photographers must also assume all legal risks of their assignments. And they risk not getting paid if clients don’t like the images they produce.
Last year while I was on tour in Australia with my novel Walkaway, I sat down for an interview with legal scholar Rebecca Giblin (previously), whose Authors’ Interest project studies how we w…
Last year while I was on tour in Australia with my novel Walkaway, I sat down for an interview with legal scholar Rebecca Giblin (previously), whose Authors’ Interest project studies how we would craft copyright (and other policies) if we wanted to benefit creators, rather than enriching corporations; we talked about the power and limits of copyright to benefit authors, and how other policies, like antitrust, are crucial to getting authors their fair share.
National Geographic has reached 100 million Instagram followers—and it tried to celebrate with a one-day photo contest that amounted to a massive rights grab.
In September 2018, the European Parliament voted in favor of the highly controversial EU Copyright Directive, which aims to “harmonize” copyright law across Europe. But critics argue the law could destroy the open Web, and now Google is showing an eye-opening look at what its search results could soon look like.
Photographer J Salmeron of Metal Blast sparked a huge outpouring of support from other photographers and creatives last week after he shared how he was
Photographer J Salmeron of Metal Blast sparked a huge outpouring of support from other photographers and creatives last week after he shared how he was blacklisted by the band Arch Enemy while trying to protect his copyright. Now the clothing business at the center of the controversy has closed up shop in response to all the “hate and threats” it has received.
With the explosion of social media and photo sharing, personal pictures commonly go viral and make their way onto major news websites, sometimes without
With the explosion of social media and photo sharing, personal pictures commonly go viral and make their way onto major news websites, sometimes without the photographers’ permission. But a judge has just ruled that media companies can’t simply steal social media photos whenever they see fit.
The European Union is fumbling towards a final draft of the new “Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive,” including the controversial “Article 13,” which requires all but the smallest online platforms to set up crowdsourced databases of copyrigh
Rightsholder groups argue that Article 13 is necessary because Google is underpaying the artists whose work appears on YouTube (and other tech platforms are underpaying for their use of entertainment materials). This is a debate that is muddied by a lack of transparency on all sides. There are no reliable numbers on:
Squarespace has partnered with Unsplash to gives its customers access to free photography. It’s a terrible idea that amplifies the idea that visuals have no value.
Squarespace can’t stop photographers from contributing to Unsplash, but the partnership helps amplify a destructive message: We will build our business off the backs of free content.
Internet copyright – the Wild West. The internet is still a bit like the Wild West when it comes to copyright. There’s the occasional sheriff wondering
The internet is still a bit like the Wild West when it comes to copyright. There’s the occasional sheriff wondering around enforcing the law, but for the most part, it’s every man for himself. With so much material on the internet, it’s almost impossible to think that everything and everyone can be regulated and checked when it comes to copyright infringement.
