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Call for Grass Roots Action - Sample letter below

A recent ad appearing in both Vanity Fair and The New Yorker has many in the photography and illustration professions feeling that Condé Nast is threatening the livelihood of freelancers. The ad is headlined "Get The Picture? - The Condé Nast Archive - The century's best images by top photographers and illustrators of our time."

Where is Condé Nast getting all these great images, and how can they now license them for stock use without paying their creators a single penny? Over the past several years, when freelancers have been contacted to produce editorial imagery for any of the Condé Nast publications, more often than not they have been sent a blanket contract covering not only that one assignment, but also all future, and perhaps even past, assignments for all Condé Nast publications. This contract gives Condé Nast the right to license virtually unlimited additional use, in both conventional and digital media, of the images that were purchased initially for editorial use in their magazines. Condé Nast also reserves the right to prevent the photographer or illustrator from licensing any commercial or advertising use of the image, even long after Condé Nast's license is no longer exclusive.

With the impressive list of titles that Condé Nast publishes (Glamour, Mademoiselle, GQ, Gourmet, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Architectural Digest, The New Yorker, Traveler, House & Garden, Brides, Self, etc.), many photographers and illustrators, or their agents, have signed one of these agreements at one time or another. It is easy to understand how this could happen in light of the influence wielded by Condé Nast, the high visibility of their magazines, and the frequent pressure of rush deadlines. Because a single contract covers all future, and perhaps all past, work, it is very likely that a substantial number of photographers and illustrators have unwittingly given Condé Nast the ability to sell their work as stock in perpetuity.

It is ASMP's opinion that if Condé Nast succeeds with this practice, it is very likely that other large publishers will follow suit and either establish their own licensing agencies or turn over their editorial images to Getty or Corbis to generate additional revenue for their companies. We believe that this would undermine our already hard-pressed industry. What can be done about this?

We, as well as several other leading illustration and photography trade groups, are bringing to the attention of our members a grass roots effort to combat this practice. ASMP, along with Editorial Photographers (EP), The Graphic Artists Guild (GAG), The Illustrators Partnership of America (IPA) and The Society of Photographers and Artists Representatives (SPAR), have all decided to alert and educate our respective members as to what is going on.

What many photographers and illustrators are doing is writing to the president of Condé Nast objecting to the company's practice and at the same time terminating any blanket agreements they may have signed. This approach could generate thousands of letters while canceling contracts that are in force, even in the many cases where the talent is unaware these contracts exist. Many in our industry feel that the collective future of freelance illustrators and photographers is at stake.

If you have ever shot an assignment for, or signed a contract with, Condé Nast or any of its publications, please consider the following action. If you have agents or rep's who may have signed a contract with Condé Nast, please check with them; if they have signed a Condé Nast contract on your behalf, please consider joining in this action.

Below you will find a sample letter that you may use if you choose to participate. You can simply use your computer to copy the text and paste it on your own letterhead (or if you wish, personalize it with your own thoughts). As a service to our members choosing to participate, we will collect all responses and forward them en masse via certified mail to Condé Nast. Please leave the date blank, and we will insert it prior to mailing. Please mail it to:

Condé Nast Contract
ASMP, Inc.
150 North Second Street
Philadelphia, Pa 19106-1912

To help protect the first letter writers, we will not forward any letters until the participating trade associations and organizations collectively have at least 500 letters in hand. We will then date and post the first group and follow up in lots of approximately 100 letters at a time.

Many leading photographers and illustrators, including several that currently work for Condé Nast, have already agreed to join this campaign. Theispot-Showcase Website has agreed to be a central point to monitor participation in the campaign. You will be able to see a combined list of letter writers by logging into ART TALK at http://www.theispot.com. The lists will be contained in the Conference titled "Condé Nast Contract Cancellation Campaign". We will have names added to the online photography list as letters are received at our office.

Thanks for joining in this action.

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SAMPLE LETTER

(Please use your letterhead)

Date: ________________

Mr. Steven T. Florio
President and CEO
Conde Nast Publications, Inc.
4 Times Square
New York, NY 10036

Subject: Notice of Termination

Dear Mr. Florio:

This letter is to communicate my dissatisfaction, as a professional photographer, with Conde Nast. I was appalled to see Conde Nast's ad in Vanity Fair offering to license the use of the many fine illustrations and photographs that have appeared editorially in your publications. Photographers work for your magazines at low editorial rates and it is imperative that we retain exclusive control over additional usage of our images. Your practices, if they are allowed to continue, will destroy the publication photography profession.

My colleagues and I cannot in good conscience be a party to this, especially when you have now offered to review your contract for illustrators but not for photographers. The inevitable result will be a decrease in the quality of photography that will be available to Conde Nast publications. This is something that will hurt your company, your readers, and the photography profession. If you truly care about any of those, you will revisit your contract with photographers. If you do not, your actions will speak far more loudly than any words.

Conde Nast publishes many excellent magazines and I will gladly work for your publications in the future, once you have demonstrated good judgment and good faith by revising your contract for photographers.

Sincerely yours,

_________________________________

_________________________________
(YOUR SIGNATURE)