Just because someone spends a ton of money on a promo, doesn’t mean it is any good. Take the newMicrosoft commercial made by CP&B with Jerry Seinfield.

How many millions did this cost to make? How many millions have been spent on placement? But where is the core message? What does it offer the buyer? 

In my opinion (and I’m sure others will disagree), it’s not even funny. But it fails mostly because the CP&B folks (and MS) tried too hard to be Apple-esque–quirky/witty as the Mac/PC ads have been–and in copying (without looking like they were copying) they stopped being themselves.

So, you can spend a butt-load of money, but it will fall flat if you forget to be, well, you.

(thanks åsk for the link)

Ew. They are collecting data with Chrome. Ick.

Thanks to fellow adlander Brent Hahn, here is something you absolutely MUST read if you are even vaguely interested in Google’s new Chrome browser. Basically, the terms are such that you give away the rights to your content….for many of you, that would be your images. Quote:

In other words, by posting anything (via Chrome) to your blog(s), any forum, video site, myspace, itunes, or any other site that might happen to be supporting you, Google can use your work without paying you a dime. This doesn’t just apply to blogger, youtube, gmail etc, and if you think it does, re-read section 1.1 and 11. It applies to everything you pass through Chrome.

Yowza!

****UPDATE****

Apparently the outcry from the blogosphere worked–Google has updated and (I hear, I haven’t read them yet) corrected the rights. Check in the comments for more info, and the info in the link above has been updated too.

Jamie Nelson is a talented photographer. Apparently, BBDO liked her work so much, they wanted to use it. Problem is, I guess, they didn’t want to pay for it so they got another photographer to recreate one of her images. 

This isn’t even close to being a questionable case–it’s totally an infringement and I hope she goes after them (including the other photographer!) with a great lawyer.

Of course, I assume that a pro like her is registering all her images… and that you are registering yours too. Right? Don’t make me come back there and beat you.

There is another thing you can do to help prevent copyright infringement. When a client comes to you with an image (not a marker comp or other non-infringing comp) tell them that you can’t shoot it. Tell them that no mater how much or little you change, you (and they) could get sued for copyright. Let them know that there is NO acceptable percentage of change to save you–that is, the law does not cite a percentage. If reasonable people (a jury or even one judge, depending) would think that the images are too alike, that’s all it takes.

And go after the photographers, not just the clients, who rip off your work.

(hat tip to åsk for the link)

David Parrish is one of the blog injectors (see column on the right). He has a recent post on his blog that linked back to this older post of his. I love it. It’s all about how you should choose the one thing you are best at and do that.

David Byrne and Brian Eno have a new collaboration. Besides my interest in the music, and my interest in how they are monetizing the album (free streaming, buyable downloads, shipped CDs), I was struck by the credit they give to Sagmeister, Inc., for the design of the deluxe set.

A credit line like this is worth a lot of money in future projects.

I mentioned earlier that the first thing you learn in law school is that the law is not “black letter” really–that is, it’s a history of interpretations and rulings in specific contexts. The second thing thing you learn is that persistence is a virtue and creativity is rewarded.

That probably sounds odd–who thinks of lawyers as creatives, really– but what they mean is that lawyers have a duty to do everything they can to help their clients and that takes both persistence and creativity. If a client comes to you for help, and you take the case, you have to do your absolute best to help them, and that can be a very difficult and long road at times. The creativity part comes in when your original legal theory doesn’t work–you need to find another way to get to where you need to go. If the first law doesn’t apply, find some old common law that’ll work, for example. 

Photographers, good ones, do the same thing. If a client comes to you for help, you need to do your very best to help them. If something goes wrong, you have to find a way to still get the image(s) promised. Dead strobe? Fix it or find a way around it, for example. 

In the long term, this applies to your careers. You need to get to your professional goal and that takes persistence and, quite often, creative career management. For example, maybe this economic downturn has hit you particularly hard. You still want to be a photographer, but you have no jobs coming in. If you don’t have the savings, you’ll have to find another way to make money–to get you over this financial hump. Get a second job, for example. 

Thinking about alternatives is creative problem solving. You are a creative problem solver. Just because you might not be able to follow your original road map doesn’t mean you can’t get there. Find another way. You can do it.

Me, I’ve got piles of homework to do…no creative way around that, I’m afraid.

The topic for the brand new Creative Lube podcast is Social Networking. You can get it on iTunes or here (both free, but why not make an offering…yes, that is a shameless plug for donations).

In law school, one of the very first things they teach you is that the law is not even close to black and white–it’s an interpretation of meanings and previous decisions. Thus, when someone asks “is this legal” lawyers have to do their best to figure out at what the courts will probably think, in this particular set of circumstances. Stating “This is THE law” is the equivalent of nailing jell-o to a board–it’s probably only going to hold true for an instant. 

This sort of explains why you photographers so often hear things like “It’s better to get a release” rather than “Here are the exact rules for needing one.” It’s an attempt to give you the best chance at avoiding a law suit–not winning or losing one, just avoiding one altogether. Because law suits are expensive and sometimes, even when you are think you are safe, the case will go to trial (that is, the courts won’t dismiss it right off). 

Like this one. This woman posted a video on YouTube of her kid dancing to a Prince recording. The record company is suing her for copyright infringement. Most people would have thought that had to be some kind of fair use, and the courts may interpreted it as such, but in the meantime, she and the record company are spending a lot of money to litigate the issue. 

Moral? Use best practices and get your legal advice from a lawyer when it comes to your contracts, releases, etc. Don’t rely on advice from other photographers on forums for this stuff.

Tonight the San Diego APA chapter is having a meeting to discuss personal vision and getting work. The event is being hosted by and features Tim Mantoani. I just love his personal project of shooting photographers with their famous images. Check it out.

He has more about the project on his blog (link on his site). Worth reading, though the sad news is that he shoots very large polaroids…and we all know what that means…