Home  >  News  >  Special announcements  > Announcement

ASMP continues to try and resolve photocopying
royalties issue through industry dialogue

(Please note: The following information was accurate when written, September 10, but the acts of terrorism in New York and Washington, DC, on September 11 could affect meeting dates.)

ASMP is still hoping to resolve the issue of royalty fees for photographers from photocopying through industry negotiation and dialogue with Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. CCC, and is making a concerted effort in that direction.

In June, after numerous discussions on the issue over a long period with ASMP, CCC had made a commitment to work with photographer trade groups to come up with a solution. Subsequently, a September 13 meeting was planned with trade group representatives.

That meeting was planned to be held but a cloud hangs over it, the result of a surprise being sprung when three photographers filed a suit in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts against Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., claiming copyright infringement by CCC for "copying and selling copyrighted works, or authorizing others to reproduce copyrighted works containing images, in consideration for a fee, without first securing the copyright holder's prior permission or prior authorization." The suit asks the court to grant it class action status.

The trio, editorial photographers Seth Resnick, Paula Lerner, and Michael Grecco, have indirectly and informally sought support from ASMP in their suit, a request which is being evaluated by ASMP's board of directors which had no knowledge of the suit until the day before it was filed. Resnick and Lerner are members of ASMP.

ASMP president, Dave Harp, said that ASMP had been discussing with CCC the issue of photographers' fees and royalties for reprographic rights (photocopying) over an extended period of time. Those discussions had stalled due to several complex circumstances. In June, CCC and ASMP agreed to resume discussions at the September 13 meeting. He said that ASMP had no knowledge of the plan by the group of photographers to file suit up until being told the day before the suit was filed in early September.

He said that CCC, by agreeing to still meet on September 13, was sticking to its commitment to work with photographers to resolve the matter and to investigate methods to collect and distribute royalties from photocopying to photographers. "ASMP had hoped to resolve this issue through an industry dialogue. We still have that hope. I can say that ASMP would have discouraged legal action until such a time that the promised dialogue proved to be unproductive. We generally are reluctant to turn business problems into legal problems until all other actions have failed. We did not think the situation had reached that point," he said.

Harp added that the Graphic Artists Guild and ASMP would still meet with CCC on September 13 and it was probable delegates from APA and EP would also attend. He said that ASMP had been reassured CCC's June commitment to work together to build a system for collecting reprographic fees for photography and illustration has not changed. "This in turn means that ASMP can remain committed to its original strategy of finding a solution to the issue through industry dialogue," he said. ASMP, EP, APA, and PPA had been invited to the September meeting. "As of this moment ASMP, and GAG and EP have accepted . PPA has declined and will rely on reports from ASMP, APA has indicated its desire to attend subject to scheduling availability. EP was planning to attend the meeting, but its previously appointed representatives are plaintiffs in the lawsuit. CCC, on advice of counsel, cannot permit them to attend. EP has been invited to send different delegates and has said it will do so," said Harp.