Press Releases Need A Good Story To Tell

Years ago at a daily newspaper, I often watched the photo editor sort through the pile of press releases on his desk.

On busy days, he would simply throw all of them in the garbage without reading any.

“Sorry folks, we’ve got real news today,” he would say as he dropped the press releases into the trash.

On slow news days, he would look through the press releases and summarize the bad ones as: “Give me some free advertising”, “Help me make more money”, “Help me sell more crap.”

“Don’t these people know we’re a newspaper? Where’s the news?” he would rhetorically ask as he dumped the rejected press releases into the garbage.
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Corporate Art and Copyright

A recent magazine assignment had me photographing in a Toronto law firm’s office. The reception area, conference rooms and hallways looked more like an art gallery than an office. It’s become common for high-end offices to be decorated with original artwork.

A photographer might be tempted to do an executive portrait in front of a piece of office artwork because it adds a point of interest. But beware of copyright issues.

I actively avoid showing any office artwork, just to be safe.

(I’m not a lawyer so don’t believe anything you read here . . . )
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Artist Resale Rights

If a Canadian photographer sells a print to someone, that person can resell the print any time they want, for any price. The photographer has no say in the matter and does not get any portion of the proceeds. The Canadian Copyright Act currently does not include the right of resale nor a droit de suite. However these rights can be reserved by contract.

Private Member’s Bill C-516 (Artist’s Resale Right Act), a proposed amendment to the Copyright Act, is still before Parliament. It proposes “a right to a [5%] resale royalty on any sale of the work for five hundred dollars or more that is subsequent to the first transfer of ownership by the author.”

The proposed Act would apply to public resales by art dealers, museums, art auction houses and art galleries, but not to private sales between individuals.

Some countries, art dealers and auction houses already recognize an artist’s resale right.

But sadly, unlike other countries’ laws and the USA’s proposed ART Act, Canada’s Bill C-516 excludes photography.

 

Please check the date of this article because it contains information that may become out of date. Tax regulations, sales tax rules, copyright laws and privacy laws can change from time to time. Always check with proper government sources for up-to-date information.

 

For old time’s sake

Last week, I photographed a small conference involving a number of mayors, several municipal, provincial and federal government bureaucrats, a few university professors and some company presidents.

As is my routine, I made sure every finished picture had an embedded photo caption which included the name and title of each person in the photo. Fortunately for me, everyone wore a conference name tag which made identification fairly easy.

But several name tags were partially obscured by clothing. No problem! As long as I had a partial name or job title, I could do a Web search to (eventually) find the full information.
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Canadian Photographers and Spam

Canada’s new anti-spam law comes into effect on July 1, 2014. It may affect many professional photographers.

Two things to remember: (i) the law is brand new and nothing has been tested in court, and (ii) I’m not a lawyer.

Basically, the law states that a business cannot send a commercial electronic message without having the recipient’s prior consent.

What is a commercial electronic message?
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Authentic Photography For Corporate Social Media

Press junkets are common in the newspaper industry. A junket is a third-party-sponsored event where that third party is looking for some free publicity. For example:

— A car manufacturer will take a group of writers to an exotic location where they can test drive a new vehicle. The car company usually pays all the expenses.

— A travel company will pay for everything when it flies reporters to a tropical destination so they can experience the location and then write about their adventures.

— An entertainment network will fly writers to Hollywood, New York City or the location of a movie shoot so they can meet and interview the actors and director.

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Use You Clues

When a customer is searching for a photographer, they don’t just look for pretty pictures on a web site and the lowest price. Instead, they’re looking for clues that a particular photographer is worth hiring at whatever price they might charge. The customer is looking for value which is quite different from low price.

Every professional photographer pretty much uses the same camera equipment, same computer and same software. Most photographers can, more or less, shoot the same pictures although this can vary by a huge margin. So how do you increase your value to the customer?

You have to offer something that customers can’t get from any other photographer. And what can’t they get from any other photographer?
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