xBlog: The visual thinking weblog » Copyright/TM

Getty Images + Flickr Make a Deal

Bill — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:23:27 +0000

“Getty and Flickr have just entered into an exclusive partnership to sell Flickr images.

Here’s how it’ll work:

Getty editors will scour Flickr for images they deem saleable
They’ll contact photographers whose images are selected to see if they want to make them available for licensing by Getty Images
Assuming the photographer says yes, the images become available through Getty’s Flickr collection, and accessible to all their existing customers in the image licensing space

It remains to be seen how many images Getty will select, what deal they’ll offer photographers, and how they’ll select images. But people have been wondering what impact Flickr would have on the stock photography space for years, and this is a pretty interesting deal!”

A Savvy Approach to Copyright Messaging

Bill — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 14:12:46 +0000

“I’m a photographer. I’m also a web geek. And those two sides of my brain sometimes fight with each other.

As a photographer, I’m outraged when people grab photos off the web and use them without consideration of copyright. I’ve been fighting this “It’s on the internet, so it must be free!” ignorance for more than a decade.

As a web geek, I love the freedom of the web. I love that I can share my work with the whole world, for free. This is the great gift of the internet.

So what to do?”

Whose Red Cross to Bear?

Bill — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 11:57:22 +0000

“In early August, the medical supplies and drug firm Johnson & Johnson sued the American Red Cross over the right to use the red-cross emblem. Most of us had assumed that the red cross, seen on ambulances and first-aid kits, was a universal symbol of succor to the suffering. But like any graphic symbol, the red cross turns out to have more meanings and more history than would at first appear. And the rights to use this symbol are equally complicated—a reminder that many graphic symbols have more complex stories than we expect.”

Researcher: Optimal copyright term is 14 years

Bill — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 15:06:00 +0000

“It’s easy enough to find out how long copyrights last, but much harder to decide how long they should last—but that didn’t stop Cambridge University PhD candidate Rufus Pollock from using economics formulas to answer the question. In a newly-released paper, Pollock pegs the “optimal level for copyright” at only 14 years.”

Open Source Cinema: An Open Source Documentary about Copyright

Bill — Mon, 14 May 2007 12:25:31 +0000

“OpenSourceCinema is a collaborative documentary project to create a feature film about copyright in the digital age. We want you to create parts of the film.”

Copyright: get to know the facts

Bill — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 12:13:42 +0000

“…taking a ‘I don’t need to file copyright applications’ attitude can often come back to haunt you. The reason for this, under the US Copyright Act, is that registration of the copyright within ninety (90) days of publication (or before infringement takes place) is necessary to enable the copyright owner to receive what are referred to as ’statutory damages.’”

Letterhead Fonts embraces DRM

Bill — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:34:03 +0000

“It’s one thing to try to stop the rampant font piracy. It’s another thing entirely to not let me embed your typeface in the most popular digital format in existence.”

When Cory Doctorow Ruled the World

Bill — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 14:19:03 +0000

“Interviewing Cory Doctorow is easy. You just flip the on switch by asking the first question, and he emits a constant stream of brilliant, insightful stuff. Editing interviews with Doctorow is easy as well. He generally speaks in coherent, whole sentences and frequently expresses complex ideas for some length that don’t get lost mid-paragraph. So it’s a pleasure to present this conversation…”

Cisco’s Official Comments on the Apple iPhone Announcement

Bill — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 12:27:20 +0000

Aside from its overall greatness, this is my second-favorite part of the whole Apple iPhone deal. As Rafe at rc3.org said, “a bit passive-aggressive.” UPDATE: Here’s more from Mark Chandler, Cisco’s SVP and General Counsel.

On Plagiarism and Similarities

Bill — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 15:58:05 +0000

“This post addresses a topic that I have been thinking about for a while, and I have had the occasional discussion with other photographers about this. The main question might be posed as follows. When do similarities between photographs end, and when does plagiarism begin?”