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…
ASMP joins the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA), along with other organizations, in a statement to express their objections to alleged actions by Sargeant in Arms Larkin, Capitol Police Chief Verderosa, and other US Capitol police officers reported to have interfered with and threatened journalists reporting on matters of public concern at the Capitol on July 25, 2017. If, as reported, officers ordered journalists to “delete images” of this incident, this action raises significant legal concerns both…
© ASMP Member Martha Lochert With the recent announcement of the approved funding by the full House Appropriations Committee of $145 million for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for FY 2018, ASMP strongly urges Congress to approve the proposed NEA funding for 2018. While ASMP notes that this funding approval does not support the full amount of $155 million that was initially sought by a bi-partisan majority of House members, this initial approval goes far in making it known that the…
Image © Jenna Close ASMP and its News Media Coalition partners submitted a letter today to the House and Senate Armed Services Committee on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) legislative proposal on drone identification, tracking, and disposal. The Coalition’s comments concern the Administration’s request to amend Title 18 to authorize the federal government, or its designee, to detect, identify, track and potentially destroy unmanned aircraft systems, or “drones”. Coalition concerns with the Administration’s legislative proposal are…
Image credit senate.gov Members have been recently emailing me about the possibilities for a group medical insurance plan in light of the health care debate now underway in the House and Senate as Republicans seek to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act known as “Obamacare.” Thursday’s release of the Senate Republican draft legislation that has been worked on behind closed doors in a process led by Senate Majority Mitch McConnell (R-KY) provides yet another…
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…
Image © Simpson, Gubertz & Heger Editor’s Update on 6.21.17 at 4:10pm: ASMP has just been advised that the New York Assembly ‘s Right of Publicity bill’s sponsor, Assembly Leader, Joe Morelle (D-Rochester), has removed the bill from the floor due to legislative session ending today. ASMP will continue to monitor the situation of this legislation in the New York legislative bodies, but for now, the call to action on this legislation is no longer in play….
Cross-post from pdnpulse.pdnonline.com [by David Walker] A federal jury in Maryland has awarded $900,000 in actual damages to an Oregon-based plant retailer for its claims against a competitor over unauthorized use of two dozen copyrighted images. The jury verdict, delivered last week, also included a $300,000 statutory damages award, but the plaintiff may elect one jury award or the other (not both) under copyright law. Under a Foot Plant Co., owner of a product line…
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, Chuck Grassley (R- IA), Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) today introduced the Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act, which makes the Register of Copyrights a presidentially-appointed, Senate-confirmed position. ASMP Executive Director, Tom Kennedy, supports swift Senate action, and a final result of positioning the Copyright Office to have a permanent Register who is committed to driving forward Copyright Office modernization. After HR1695 was passed…