‘Thumbs Up’ Emoji Counts as Contract Agreement, Canadian Judge Rules
A judge in Canada has ruled that a "thumbs up" emoji not only constitutes an agreement to a contract, but is no less binding than an actual signature.
A judge in Canada has ruled that a "thumbs up" emoji not only constitutes an agreement to a contract, but is no less binding than an actual signature.
Photographers, beware: if you're ever contacted by a big brand on Instagram or any other social network with a request to "share your photo," make sure you read the fine print of any terms you're shown. If you don't, you could easily be agreeing to give away unlimited usage of your work.
American music star Ariana Grande has sparked an outcry from photographers and media organizations with her new concert tour agreement. Reportedly a response to "greedy photographers" taking advantage of her in the past, the new contract requires that photographers hand over full copyright to their photos.
GoPro hasn't been good for its investors as of late, but the company is stepping in a new direction in its search for profits. The company has announced that it has signed a licensing deal for its camera lenses and sensors to be used in third-party products.
As photographers in the United States, we hold the majority of power when it comes to our images. We automatically own the copyright to all photos we take, we are the ones who register our photos with the U.S. Copyright office, and we are the ones who license our images to clients, publications, and even the models in the photos.
That copyright, in addition to the model releases we obtain from our photographic subjects, allows us to have a substantial amount of control over what we can do with those photos. This can sometimes create a moral ambiguity as to how we decide to publish those photos, blurring the lines between what is right and what is ethical.
There's currently a heated dispute going on between two photographers over the issue of a signed "no compete" contract for teaching photography.
Taylor Swift's concert photography contract recently came under fire for being overreaching and for threatening to destroy photographers' equipment, leading some publications to boycott the contract and obtain photos by other means.
It looks like change has resulted from the controversy: Taylor Swift's concert photo agreement has been revised to address concerns that were raised and to be friendlier toward photographers.
A couple of days ago, we received an email from a concerned concert photographer who had apparently earned the right to photograph an upcoming Motely Crüe concert.
The photographer, who preferred not to identify him or herself, shared with us what they claimed to be the Red White & Crüe Inc. photography licensing agreement, bringing our attention to wording that seems to indicate photographers can't even license their own images without the company's express consent.
In a lawsuit filed this Monday, Ohio-based model Nicole Forni is seeking half a million dollars in damages from Columbus photographer Joshua Resnick after he sent photographs from a shoot they collaborated on to at least three dozen pornographic-oriented web outlets.
A week ago, we reported that Kodak had entered into a multi-year agreement with American camera supplier …