As the August recess unfolds for Congress, we continue to move forward with plans for a grassroots campaign to lobby Representatives on the House Judiciary Committee. As a next step, we want to identify ASMP members who might have direct relationships with the House Judiciary Members. In addition, I’d like to identify members at the local chapter level who may have an interest in being part of an ASMP political action committee to arrange in-person meetings with Representatives…
The House Judiciary Committee is making progress on its plans to pursue a multi-part copyright reform proposal that includes a provision to enact a permanent small claims copyright court. As previously reported, the small claims component is designed to provide photographers and other individual creators plagued by copyright infringements with a viable, cost effective alternative to the burdensome and prohibitively expensive federal court litigation route. As promised by Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and senior Democrat…
John Morris touched the lives of almost every photojournalist working beginning in the early 1940’s and his life’s work had a massive impact on our profession. I had the privilege of getting to know about John first through Gary Haynes, my boss at The Philadelphia Inquirer who had previously been his protege at The New York Times. Gary talked about John in glowing terms and passed on the joie de vivre that John always had,…
While the majority of ASMP advocacy efforts are focused on legislative actions at the national level in addressing copyright reform, ASMP is also focused on addressing legislative agendas at the state level where proposed bills would harm our members. This is evident in the proposed Right of Publicity legislation introduced in New York State, as referenced in the recent ASMP post “ASMP Memorandum in Opposition to Proposed New York State’s Right of Publicity Legislation“. ASMP took…
ASMP is pleased to report that, yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee approved by a vote of 27-1 HR 1695, the Register of Copyright Selection and Accountability Act of 2017, introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chairman, Bob Goodlatte, and Ranking Member, John Conyers. HR 1695 would require the Register of Copyrights to be appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. If enacted, it would be an important step in providing much-needed autonomy to the United…
ASMP welcomes the introduction of H.R. 1695 (the Register of Copyright Selection and Accountability Act of 2017) by Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte and ranking member John Conyers, and cosponsored by 29 members. This legislation would take the critical step of requiring the Register of Copyrights to be appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. This proposed change in the Register selection process was previously advocated by ASMP and several of its colleagues…
“The Arts and Sciences, essential to the prosperity of the State and to the ornament of human life, have a primary claim to the encouragement of every lover of his country and mankind.” –George Washington As the Executive Director of ASMP, a trade association representing thousands of visual creators, I find the recent budget proposed by President Trump to eliminate the funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the…
Thanks to all of you who have continued to believe in the mission of ASMP and support us with your time, talent, and treasure as we have worked in 2016 to restructure to better meet the challenges of the ever-changing 21st century world. Looking forward, the New Year offers us the chance to continue making necessary adjustments and improvements so we truly meet the mission demands of helping members to be their “best selves,” whether…
As you know, on October 21, 2016, the Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden, removed from the U.S. Copyright Office the Register of Copyrights, Maria Pallante—an outstanding public servant who was dedicated to the proper and fair operation of the copyright law and who had a keen understanding of the challenges faced by individual creators in protecting their creative works from infringement. Library of Congress Survey – Please Participate More recently, as she prepares to name…
Today, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and John Conyers (D-Mich.), ranking Democrat on the Committee, announced the next steps in the Committee’s multi-year review of the copyright law. Specifically, they issued the first of a number of policy proposals that will address components of their proposed legislative reform of the copyright act. Of particular importance to ASMP members is the Committee leadership’s statement that reform of the Copyright Office should…