Archive for April 4th, 2007

Speaking of legal things…

Wednesday, April 4th, 2007

Ed Greenberg, the outstanding intellectual property attorney, has posted a fantastically informative letter on why your stock agency is probably not really your agent, and why that is important.

One of Mr. Greenberg’s main points in much of his writing has been that language matters. It’s vital to say that photographers license their images, not sell them, for example. As this letter shows, he was right again–language does matter, a lot.

Mr. Greenberg is, for those of you who don’t know, a former EP contributor who has given loads of outstanding advice to photographers and other creatives. He is the person who made clear to me the importance of billing your Creative and Usage Licensing Fees separately (check out my next Creative Lube podcast later this month for more on that).

Thanks Ed, for continuing to fight the good fight.

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The Good News and the Bad News

Wednesday, April 4th, 2007

First, the good news:
Carolyn Wright, the photographer/attorney, posted some great news on the ASMP Pro/Student forum. The Copyright office will soon be accepting electronic submissions. This will make life much easier for creatives. If you aren’t yet registering your work, start doing so today and take advantage of the new system when it becomes live.

Now, the bad news: Gannet, the publishers of USA Today, have issued a new freelance contract. As if it’s rates weren’t already abysmal, now, for an extra $100, you have to sign away any future income from any Gannet use ever in any media.  Anyone who signs this contract is committing business murder/suicide.
Hat tip to Scott Lewis (who sent me the contract) and Ed McColloch )who sent me the PDN story link).

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