Amazon.com has just gained the ability to sue photographers who use a white background to capture a product photo with this patent award from the US Patent Office (USPO) which means they can technically ask for licensing fees if you ever thought otherwise.

Yes, you heard me. White background. Here is an except of the Patent text filed:-

a background comprising a white cyclorama; a front light source positioned in a longitudinal axis intersecting the background, the longitudinal axis further being substantially perpendicular to a surface of the white cyclorama; an image capture position located between the background and the front light source in the longitudinal axis, the image capture position comprising at least one image capture device equipped with an eighty-five millimeter lens, the at least one image capture device further configured with an ISO setting of about three hundred twenty and an f-stop value of about 5.6...

Amazon is an online retailer and for that, most if not all of the photos captured for use on their site has a white background. D'uh. Apparently the text also mentions the use of a 85mm lens so if you happen to get sued, all you gotta do is prove that you used a 75mm or a 90mm lens to shoot your object and you're home free.....provided you hired a lawyer to defend yourself which can run into thousands of dollars.

First, let's be clear. This patent is not an innovation. The patent was filed by Amazon in 2010 and granted this year.  For me at least, the idea of such a photographic exercise is really to fight other online retailers who would use a picture of a product shot with a white background. This gentle art of arm wrestling your competitor to the ground with a lawsuit is one of the best ways to perform a take down without using too much effort. Smaller online retailers who cannot fight Amazon's lawyers will have to move on. The very act of hiring a lawyer to defend yourself in corporate America is a dangerous proposition as it cost a lot of money.

This patent can be used only for sites hosted in America. Amazon in this case can't use it against say, China's Taobao or any online property hosted outside of the US.

Photographers probably need not be too worried but you should tell your client that you won't be using a 85mm lens to shoot a product. Instead, why not try using an iPhone? With the right lighting and a portable lighting studio like the Foldio, you can add a watermark that says "shot on an iPhone with Foldio", to deter the legal sharks from Amazon.

 

What's my Take on the Picture?

What this will eventually mean is that the professional photographer will be obsolete. The only reason why clients would want to use you for a studio shoot is that the object in question is so damn large that it will need a whole room with lighting just to ensure that it is properly lit. That said, you could soon be mothballing your DSLR until your client shows up at your doorstep with a product so large that it can't be shot with an iPhone.

I have the upmost respect for photojournalist, especially those who risk their lives to report in the nether regions of social justice. Think Don McCullin, Kevin Carter and Eddy Adams. I had the pleasure of meeting Eddy Adams once in the 1990s and was in awe of what he had done. To risk his life to report the news was indeed noble.

Since then, the transition to digital photography and digital imaging has taken a huge chunk from this once reputable profession. The pay is no longer rewarding, and your employers would rather not send you into a hot zone just because they are reluctant to pay your expenses or take out a Lloyds of London Insurance Premium. The decline of print based journalism made it totally unfashionable to get qualified photojournalist into the hot zone and thus was born Demotix. This is where newspapers like Le Monde, BBC, WallStreet Journal and New York Times start looking for a cheaper alternative and it's not Reuters, AP, UPI or AFP.

Demotix hopes to change how photojournalism works by offering you the chance to work like a pro and be paid like an amateur should you suddenly find yourself with too much free time on your hands. Profits are split 50:50 but there is no mention on what is the going rate is for pictures and videos.The term "profits" is contentious. Profits are not calculated at "gross" as there is a withholding TAX which is applied to your earnings. Even though you are working and reporting from a place outside of the UK, Demotix will minus your earnings for UK Tax.

Press Credentials for Amateurs

In the old days, this was the passport to getting great news but these days, a Press Pass is more useful for getting into a rock concert without paying. You can only apply for press credentials from Demotix after you have logged in 20 stories. If you don't have 20 stories to your name, you'd have to fork out US$20 for one.

This makes good sense as the press credentials will offer you a chance to roll with the crowd at public events, expos and product launches. It might even get you pass a police cordoned line if you are lucky. This card will enable you to get a validated national news accreditation, which is far more valuable for collecting news items from you own country.

Equipment Questions

Fortunately for most of us armed only with an iPhone, this is only requirement you'd need to apply to send news to this agency. Demotix takes both still photos and video feeds so whatever you have, you can load it up and send it in. DSLR are the preferred choice but your trusty iPhone will do should Godzilla ever came ashore in a hurry.

Items shot with a DSLR will have to be uploaded using a web browser so there is no real preference to equipment by Demotix. You do not have to use their custom iPhone app just to upload news items.

For the mobile photojournalist, Demotix only offers an iPhone app (which should work on an iPad I reckon) for those quick uploads but no word yet on an Android or Windows Mobile (or Blackberry) app.

From Demotix's business model, I had to refer to the Wiki which said that your news stories would be sold from between US$50 to US$3,000 per story. Demotix can also sell exclusive stories at a much higher rate though I do not expect this to be the norm. Exclusive stories cost you money and time, and if you are not well heeled enough to crack the next Watergate or Irangate feature, I doubt you can score an exclusive.

Even though Demotix may not offer you the best news credentials to carry out into the field, it does offer you a way to get started in the heady world of photojournalism armed with only the bare essentials.

Making Money Opportunities

There are many of us who dream of breaking into the news industry. Unfortunately every blogger on the planet seems to have the same idea and for you to score points above them, you can't be desk bound. If you like going about and looking for things to report on, there is plenty to do.

To be fair, Demotix offers you the opportunity to break into the this world and it should not be taken lightly. Being in the position to offer news to the world is something unique and can even be life changing. Think of it as a stepping stone to your next career option.

A new service from Magnum Photos is about to be rolled out and it's going to take a swipe at Creative Commons. For a flat annual fee, you can download and use ANY Magnum image without watermarks on your non-commercial website.

For the longest time, photography had been a barometer of human activity. Photographers have captured those precious moments on film and saved that for posterity but lately, photos are not worth more than a postage stamp — thanks largely to Photoshop and digital imagery.

Magnum, being the oldest photo agency on the planet can't have you taking their pictures with a creative common twist. Even though you only want to use it on your website for non commercial purposes (which is contentious at best since you earn traffic revenue from web advertising) Magnum has the right to send you a DMCA takedown for using their photos without their permission.

What is the Value of Digital Images?

For old school stock agencies, the last thing they want is to host photos from non-agency photographers. The deal behind Magnum Photos as a collective agency is that the whole library of images is set up to benefit Magnum members and since they can't be possibly  shoot the usual commercial crap one has known to expect from a royalty free stock agency, those images from the past should be worth far more than the postage stamp.

I have nothing but sympathy for Magnum Photos. I  have worked with them in the past and they do try very hard to innovate but going out to enlist bloggers by asking them to pay an annual fee to use photos without watermarks is probably asking too much. Bloggers are a different breed. Think Perez Hilton, who as a successful professional blogger wouldn't even pay a cent even when he's being sued for using images without permission. His best excuse? Let's toss in a photo credit and be done with that.

As a collective agency, I was once in talks with Magnum to get sponsorship from Sony to host an exhibition but that faltered for several reasons, first being that the bulk of their photos were shot on film rather on digital. And even if they were shot on digital, it wasn't shot on a Sony camera. Companies like Nikon or Canon could sponsor them but they too do not see the same value since they are the big shots of the camera scene. Leica could of course do this but heck, they are a premium brand. If you shot Fendi, Burberry or LV, maybe they might consider it. Photojournalism isn't a hot commodity these days as anyone with an iPhone can upload the latest video and pictures onto the Internet for free. Magnum built their reputation on photojournalism, which at this time is being savaged by the digital age. No one pays attention to where the photos came from—and much less of the photographer who took it.

Magnum is a prestigious agency and to shore up their revenue, they are hoping to convert up to 30 percent of their recalcitrant image thieves to their new membership model though I think they would have more success if they were aiming for between 1 to 10 percent. Frankly bloggers are not out to pay for images and even if they did, they would want to desecrate them into personal Memes which they can share online. Robert Capa and HCB could be turning in their graves as we speak....