Mar 3, 2010 0
Student Outs Self in Contest
A student who used the California shield laws to protect himself last year and had remained anonymous for his own safety has outed himself in the College Photographer of the Year competition.
Dec 11, 2009 0
Court Room Twitter/Blogging Guide
The Citizen Media Law Project has written a guide to help journalists blog or tweet from court. Some good advice.
Jul 12, 2009 0
Bound to Happen, I Suppose
So, there’s this whole legal wrangling going on about Shepard Fairey’s Obama poster – the Associated Press claims the illustration is based on one of their photographs. Except now the photojournalist who actually took the photo is claiming it isn’t AP’s – it’s his. This should be fun …
Jul 3, 2009 0
Great Graphics
The New York Times‘ Lens blog has a selection of images up by Michael Wolf of Chicago architecture – and the visual formations are stunningly cool (particularly the last frame). There’s even a legal note appended to the piece that talks about privacy issues – something we as journalists deal with a lot.
Jun 9, 2009 0
The lost negative of "The Shot Heard 'Round the World"
It took more than 57 years, but Rudy Mancuso is at last getting credit for his iconic 1951 image of the Giants winning the pennant. In a story for the Wall Street Journal, Joshua Prager talks about how the amateur photographer took the image, lost track of the negative and then had it returned shortly before his death.
Feb 18, 2009 1
Facebook Showdown
Facebook instituted a change in its terms of service that drew a lot of complaints. Wednesday morning, they backed down.
Now, if only other entities would understand that content has value …
Jul 29, 2008 0
Why Facebook is Not a Photographer's Friend
Facebook, I’m sure, is not the only site to have this stuff buried in there. (I should probably go check Blogger.com …) Please make sure you’re reading those pesky terms of service agreements and that you’re not giving up anything you value by posting to online sites.
Update: Well, I checked Google’s terms of service. It starts out fine …
Your Intellectual Property Rights. Google claims no ownership or control over any Content submitted, posted or displayed by you on or through Google services. You or a third party licensor, as appropriate, retain all patent, trademark and copyright to any Content you submit, post or display on or through Google services and you are responsible for protecting those rights, as appropriate. (Emphasis their’s)
However, they then wrap up with …
By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through Google services which are intended to be available to the members of the public, you grant Google a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to reproduce, publish and distribute such Content on Google services for the purpose of displaying and distributing Google services.
Hrmpf.
The negative side of me says this isn’t good, the optimistic side of me says that’s just legalese to allow them to do what you’ve asked (distribute your content via their services). I think I’m going to lean towards the optimistic side on this as there’s nothing there about relicensing or redistribution.
Jul 21, 2008 1
Lawyer Sues News & Observer Over Staff/Space Cuts
Yep, a lawyer is suing because the paper announced cuts after he paid his subscription.
So, instead of being able to put money into staff or resources, they now have to spend it fighting off a frivolous lawsuit. But, the lawyer says he could have cancelled his subscription, but “filed the suit to make a point.”
Proving, again, that in the legal system, the lawyers always win.
Jun 27, 2008 0
Why You Need to Register Your Work
Photo Attorney Carolyn Wright tells the tale of a photographer who just won a $12 million settlement for copyright infringements.
Ahem.