ASMP NorCal Presents 'Photojournalism Today'

Please join me and four accomplished photojournalists on Tuesday, March 13 in San Francisco for a panel discussion about the challenges of working in the news media today.

Hosted by the Northern California chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers, the "Photojournalism Today" panel includes:

Noah Berger, a freelancer who has spent the past 17 years covering Bay Area news for editorial, corporate, and government clients. On the news side, Berger works principally for the Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle, Bloomberg News and the New York Times. He also covers transportation/development issues for state agencies and health care for the Blue Shield Foundation and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

Mike Kepka (pictured), a San Francisco Chronicle staff photographer since 1999. Five years ago, he started producing his own photo/multimedia column for the Chronicle called The City Exposed, which celebrates San Francisco’s quirky collection of characters. In the past year he has transformed his column into a venue for new forms of multimedia techniques that continue to follow a true “one-man-band” style of reporting and production. You can follow Kepka’s work at www.Sfgate.com/cityexposed and vimeo.com/sfchronicle and on Twitter at @thecityexposed.

Jane Tyska, a photo and videojournalist at the Oakland Tribune/Bay Area News Group. Tyska spent a month in Nepal and Bhutan in 2010, following a Bhutanese refugee family from a camp in eastern Nepal to their new home in Oakland, and continued to document them until the birth of their first baby. Tyska also documented the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti and a local contractor’s efforts to help rebuild. She has won a national award for the Bhutan project from the South Asian Journalists Association and a YIPPA international press photo award for her Haiti work. Tyska has also received recent awards from the California Newspapers Publishers Association and the East Bay and Peninsula Press Clubs.

Judy Walgren, the Director of Photography at the San Francisco Chronicle for just over one year. She faces daily challenges involving a depleted budget and fewer photojournalists to shoot the increasing number of Chronicle iPad app assignments, which require panoramas, galleries, and multimedia. Before coming to the Chronicle, Walgren was staff photographer at the Denver Post, the Rocky Mountain News and the Dallas Morning News, where she was part of a team that received the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting on violent human rights abuses against women worldwide. She has been awarded the Barbara Jordan Award for reporting on people with disabilities, the Sidney Hillman Award, and multiple Harry Chapin World Hunger Awards, in addition to other honors.


I'll be debuting segments of my new documentary feature, "Deadline Every Second: On Assignment with 12 AP Photojournalists."

Price:

ASMP NorCal members:     5.00

Affiliates, students            10.00

Non-members                  15.00

Pizza and drinks will be available with the purchase of a $5 food ticket.

Time:
6-7 pm Social hour with pizza and drink
7-9:30 pm Panel discussion

Location:
Left Space Studios
2055 Bryant Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

 http://www.leftspace.com/   

Canon Hybrid is 'Game Changer' for AP Visuals

Kevin Roach,the Associated Press's VP for Broadcast News, tells Beet.TV that the hybrid Canon 5D Mark II (the first DSLR to enable 1080p video) is a "game changer" for visual journalism. .

The AP wisely committed resources to supplying both its print reporters and still photographers with these pricey tools (which run about $2500 each just for the body) -- and, here's the important part, the necessary training to ensure worthwhile results.

The video interview below includes samples of AP footage -- both raw and "produced." Note that stories often combine stills and video in the same piece, a testament to the enduring power of a single memorable frame.



Everyone loves the image quality, but pros concur that there are still enormous audio drawbacks for newsgatherers. Because there is no audio out (i.e. for headphones), you can't hear the interviews you are recording, to ensure their sound quality. Also, large video files require frequent changes of memory cards. And we've been hearing complaints about the challenge of focusing while in video mode.

We suspect all this will improve soon, and advise media outlets to follow AP's lead in acquainting qualified staffers with the tools and knowledge that will empower them to augment their visual storytelling prowess. It's a prudent investment.

AP Is Hiring a Videojournalist in D.C., But...

The good news is that the Associated Press is hiring a videojournalist for its Washington, D.C. office.

We're sharing its job description, to give you an idea of the superheroic skill sets that media organizations are demanding in applicants these days.

Qualifications:

The Associated Press is looking for an experienced video journalist with strong writing and video editing skills. We want producers who take ownership of their stories and work through obstacles to get the job done. The ideal candidate has solid news judgment, reacts quickly to breaking news and has the ability to work in a high-pressure, dynamic newsroom environment. Previous experience working in a multimedia newsroom is a must along with strong interpersonal skills. Candidate should have experience editing non-linear video, preferably FinalCut Pro. The preferred candidate is familiar with photo editing software, preferably Adobe Photoshop.

However, a careful reading of the actual duties indicates that this particular position involves mostly pre- and post-production, not actual shooting.

This Newsperson writes, edits and files video packages for AP Broadcast and works with the assignment desk and supervisors to coordinate all content for video packages, ensuring a well told, clear, concise and balanced story. This Newsperson works closely with other AP desks, including the London video desk, on developing stories. The Newsperson monitors breaking news events and reacts as necessary by creating topical video packages. The Newsperson scripts packages for web users and television broadcasters and edits video packages using a non-linear editing system. This Newsperson sets up and/or conducts interviews and works with field crews on the necessary video and audio elements to be gathered from a news event. The Newsperson monitors AP’s consumer-facing video web sites to ensure they are up-to-date and accurate.

So what's the bad news?

"Must be able to work all shifts, starting out overnight."

Still interested? Apply here.

Enroll Now for Momenta's Project India 2011

Received this update from Momenta Workshops director Jamie Rose, on its Project India 2010:

Jacquelyn Martin, a photojournalist with the Associated Press in Washington, DC., tirelessly covered not one but three nonprofits while in India and created a multimedia piece highlighting her documentary work with a small nonprofit ashram for young girls.

Jacquelyn's journalistic tenacity prompted her to record audio, write a word story, produce a slideshow and pitch it to her editors back in the States. Her hard work paid off when a multimedia piece was published [and] recieved an award from NPPA, was seen by thousands of readers and online viewers and helped to create awareness for an important issue facing young girls in India.

Go here to watch her "To Stand on Their Own: Indian Ashram for Girls" (pictured above):

Momenta Workshops specializes in pairing small groups of visual journalists with NGOs and nonprofits on trips around the world to create multimedia projects that raise awareness of regional and global issues.

Project India 2011 is January 30 to February 12, 2011. Only 7 slots are left for this workshop and they are going fast, so register now to secure your place.

Come with us to work with some of the varied NGOs and nonprofits that have helped shape India's development projects over the last 50 years. Learn the skills necessary to work successfully and profitably with these organizations in one of the most culturally diverse countries on Earth.

We work with NGOs of varying specialization from agriculture to health care in the Northern city of Dehradun, India. While photographing at the foothills of the Himalayas, workshop attendees will be given the task of creating a compelling visual or multimedia narrative in conjunction with their assigned nonprofit. Each nonprofit assignment is chosen based on an extended questionnaire from each student on their goals for the workshop and their own personal photographic vision.

More info here.

Concentra Award Nominees Announced

The nominations for this year’s Concentra Award for Outstanding Video Journalism have been announced.

The Concentra awards an annual prize to a journalist who, in terms of both substance and production, produced an interesting news item which was broadcast on a news program of a television station. By awarding this prize, Concentra aims to stimulate journalists to film and edit their own pieces, so they master the entire production process themselves. Established in 2004, the award comes with 10,000 euros (approx. $14,000 US) in prize money.

• The Winning Hood - Stef Biemans, VPRO, The Netherlands
• Sudanese trouser woman - Mia Bittar, VJ Movement, Sudan
• Young and homeless in Almaty – Yermek Boltayev, Radio Free Europe, Kazakhstan
• Cracking the whip in Pakistan - Adam Ellick, NY Times, USA
• Close Calls - Raul Gallego Abellan, Associated Press, Spain
• This is not like Iraq - Raul Gallego Abellan, Associated Press, Spain
• Baby Feras - Casey Kauffman, Al Jazeera International, UK
• Taxi Filippino: the disappearance of James Balao - Roel Nollet, TV Oost, Belgium
• Operation Moshtarak - Vaughan Smith, Channel4, UK
• The all-dwarf themepark: a human zoo? - Angel Villariano, VJ Movement, Spain

Final judging of the 10 nominated entries will take place on May 6th in Antwerp. The Concentra jury is chaired by Michael Rosenblum, CEO of Rosenblum TV.

New Business Strategies for Photojournalists

Photojournalism, first pronounced dead in 1972 with the closure of the weekly edition of Life magazine, has been like a cat with nine lives. It is undoubtedly going through turbulent times, but has the cat reached the end of its natural life or is it just morphing into a new beast?

In an article published last year entitled, ‘Lament for a Dying Field: Photojournalism’, the New York Times reported on one of the most recent signs of the field’s weakening pulse, the bankruptcy of the venerable French picture agency, Gamma. In America there was the closure of the Rocky Mountain News and Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the bankruptcy of The Chicago Tribune Company. Even Associated Press (AP) laid off some staffers.

Against this bleak backdrop, I undertook an informal survey among participants and attendees at the 2009 Visa pour l’Image International Festival of Photojournalism in Perpignan, France. I learned how photographers are adapting to the extraordinary changes talking place in the field. Yes, many professionals lamented the passing of the various ‘golden eras’ of photojournalism — from the Forties through to the Nineties – but at the same time many others are changing their business strategies...

Read more here.

(Versions of the essay originally appeared in Canon Professional Network (CPN) magazine, published in Europe, and in NPPA's News Photographer magazine.)

Sign of the Times: AP Stylebook on iPhone

The AP Stylebook, a mainstay of newsrooms everywhere, is now an iPhone app.

Unlike most apps, it's not free or 99 cents. It's a whopping $28.99 (compared to the paper version, which is only $18.95).

Today's Poynter article notes that, though that's in the same price range as popular reference works apps, "given that newsrooms and journalists are being slammed by pay cuts, layoffs and furloughs, there's reason to wonder if they'll pay for such an expensive app."

The app features all of the more than 3,000 A to Z Stylebook entries. Similar to the AP Stylebook Web site, users can create their own customized listings if the AP does not have a particular style on something. In the future, the app will likely be more interactive and better integrated with the AP Stylebook's Web site.

LINKS:

AP PRESS RELEASE

AP STYLEBOOK on TWITTER

Coming Soon: The Ethics of War Videojournalism

We salute editor Dirck Halstead and the staff of The Digital Journalist, the monthly online magazine for visual journalism, on the occasion of its 12th anniversary -- that's 143 issues of high-quality reporting and commentary on photojournalism, a remarkable accomplishment.

As with other recent installments, the Sept. '09 issue includes another elegy to the commercially beleagured industry, and yet another remedy for rescuing it: How to Start to Save Photojournalism. "Is there a way to turn this situation around?" it asks. "In our view, there is only one way: Philanthropists must come to the rescue."

While we're not sure we agree that's the only way, we're always glad that the publication adds more voices, and solutions, to the mix.

What especially caught our attention in this issue was the number of thoughtful pieces devoted to AP photojournalist Julie Jacobson's controversial photo of a dying soldier in Afghanistan. (See her narrated audio-slideshow, Death of a Marine, on KobreGuide):

As it happens, Jacobson is a 2006 alum of Halstead's pioneering Platypus Workshops, that train still photographers to embrace multimedia and videojournalism. This issue carries her journal entries while she was embedded with the Marines in Afghanistan, a must read.

Columnist Beverly Spicer contributes a comprehensive report on the brouhaha surrounding the decision to publish the disturbing photo, and ponders:

As Jacobson says in her notes, "It is necessary to be bothered from time to time. It is too easy to sit at Starbucks far away across the sea and read about the casualty and then move on without much of another thought about it. It is not as easy to see an image of that casualty and NOT think about it."

With the current crisis in journalism, most U.S. news organizations have greatly reduced their conflict coverage out of economic necessity, and many are consolidating with others for information gathering.

How will the same debate and struggles evolve in the future? As forms of media and access to information shift and change, as print media collapses and professional journalism is threatened, how will the equation change between the press's efforts to release information and countervailing efforts to control it?

In their ethics column, Karen Slattery and Mark Doremus conclude:

The Associated Press made the correct decision in not caving to the pressure. Critics will argue that the photo is tasteless and adds no value to the story. Not so. If everyone knew what the actual horror of war looked like, the image would not shock or appall.

For those who don't want to think about what the picture genuinely represents, the criticism affords a convenient excuse to look hard the other way. As a nation, this conflict belongs to all of us, not only to the military or the government. The image of the injured Marine forces us, as citizens, to ask ourselves what we are going to do about our war.

Those discussions are as urgent as they are necessary. They must be responsible, thoughtful and honest. We owe that much to Cpl. Bernard and his parents, and all of the soldiers who have been and will be sent to the Middle East.

It is common decency.

As we survey developments in the evolving sphere of ethics pertaining to moving images with audio, we have to ask:

What's going to happen when a videojournalist captures a soldier dying -- which will be even much more graphic and "real" than Jacobson's still image that shocked and upset so many?

What will happen when we are able to not just see a bloody soldier, but are able to watch one bleed? When we will be able to hear a soldier's agony, as he suffers and cries for help?

We've all seen and heard this in movie theaters -- how long before we see the real thing on newspaper Websites?

Will videojournalists shoot it? Will editors allow it? Will the public accept it?

Is it the right thing to do?

Who will have to make those hard decisions, and what criteria will they use? And what impact will those powerful video stories have on all of us?

Funniest 1-Minute Video of the Year

After you've spent your week watching worthwhile but admittedly downbeat videojournalism stories about such weighty topics as death, war, homelessness and AIDS, you might be forgiven for wanting to tout the virtues of ... a funny one-minute video ad.

Perhaps you're one of the 15 million-plus international viewers who've already had a good laugh at the Evian Roller Babies, but if not, you're in for a treat. It takes Will Ferrell's "Landlord" to a whole new level.

Not much of a videojournalism connection here, other than to note how video post-production can manipulate reality in ways that Photoshop can only dream of.

But, hey, it's Friday. You've eaten your spinach, you've earned your spumoni. Or call it a "water summit" and throw back a cold one and find your own teachable moment here.

All we know is that, if only more of those annoying pre-roll ads were as charming and inventive as this, we wouldn't mind them so much.

Anyway, we know you're going to pass this along to all your friends -- along with the AP's "behind-the-scenes" coverage. Just remember to tell 'em Kobre sent ya! Happy viewing!

Evian Roller Babies:



AP "Behind-the-Scenes" Story:




SEE ALSO: Evian Roller Babies Official Website (lots of bonus footage).

KobreGuide Showcases 300th Video Story

We just re-counted to make sure, and, yep, we just posted our 300th video story on KobreGuide !

Go team!

We've been showcasing the Web's best videojournalism for nearly a year now, finding and selecting a compelling new one every weekday from the world's top media outlets.

It's a good time to take stock.

As you can see by clicking our Channels tab on the navigation bar, we've featured videos from 55 different media outlets, ranging from big newspapers like the Washington Post and the New York Times to equally meritorious ones that don't often get widespread attention, such as the St. Petersburg Times or the Detroit Free Press.

Click our "Topics" tab, and you'll see our 20 categories are far-ranging, from Adventure to War, with lots in between.

As you can see from our "Award Winners" section, we've been prescient when it comes to selecting prestigious honorees.

When we launched last fall, we offered a "Got a Minute?" section where time-strapped viewers could find short shorts for a quick hit. Curiously, we're finding that producers and audiences instead are building an appetite for longer online videos... and so we accordingly created our "Got an Hour?" section, where you can find high-quality long-form videojournalism.

To see any of our 300 posted video stories, visit the "Hall of Fame" archives -- or use our handy Search function.

We didn't want the creme de la creme to get lost in the fray, so we created a special room for our "Top Ten." Yeah, we know, there's actually 13 there at the moment -- sometimes it's hard to decide what's the best of the best. Don't sue us!

What else?

Obviously you found your way to our KobreChannel blog, but have you joined our Facebook group yet? Now's a good time, before the venture capitalists seize upon us -- you can say you knew us when.

Meanwhile, KobreGuide is still a labor of love, so please show your support by shopping at our Amazon store for all your videojournalism needs!

On a non-commercial note, the best way to help us in our mission to champion videojournalism excellence is simply to keep us posted when you spot it. We're small but mighty, and appreciate the extra eyeballs. Just click the "Recommend a Story" link on our navigation bar -- and please be sure to read our guidelines first.

So that's our tour. Looking back on our earliest stories, we are fascinated by how this hybrid media form has evolved over the past couple years.

For us, it all started with the Los Angeles Times' powerful multimedia account of the "Marlboro Marine" (above), whose iconic photograph became an emblem of the Iraq war. The soldier and the photojournalist who snapped his portrait relate how it changed their lives and connected them in ways neither could have imagined. That potent combination of audio and images constituted an exciting new form of communications; as well crafted as the text story was, it couldn't carry the emotional impact of the haunting voices and sights that augmented and fortified it.

Coincidentally, our 300th story is also about war. It's an Associated Press video series that takes a closeup look at "Wardak Soldiers: On Foot Patrol" (right), the personal stories of American troops in Afghanistan, coping with the dangerous daily task of loosening the grip of the Taliban.

Numbers 2 through 299 cover a lot of ground -- and a lot of issues that impact all of us. We are perpetually astonished at the variety of storytelling approaches explored in this fledgling field -- visually and journalistically.

Video is proliferating like crazy all over the Web, just as we had anticipated. It's getting harder to find the good stuff, the stories worthy of your limited time. We're here to find those needles in the haystack for you.

So start catching up on any of the 300 you've missed... and we'll be busy hunting for the next 300 gems.

Happy viewing!

Is News Aggregation a 'Fair Use' Issue?

Intellectual Property Colloquium is a series of one-hour online audio programs that aim to discuss conversationally -- without lecture nor debate -- issues pertaining to copyright and patent law.

To shed light on the controversial "fair use" doctrine, host Doug Lichtman, a UCLA Law prof, recently convened the lawyers in the Shepard Fairey v. Associated Press case, along with a New York Times attorney for "some outside perspective."

For a panel of lawyers, the dialog was surprisingly non-contentious, and even shed light on the tangential issue of whether news aggregation constitutes infringement.

Give a listen here.

SEE ALSO: Excellent commentary (and transcript) from Zachary M. Seward at Nieman Journalism Lab: "NYT Co.’s top lawyer doubts that aggregation is a copyright issue."

We're bracing ourselves for the inevitable next step: video aggregation.

Big Ouch: Gannett Axes 1,400 Jobs

According to the Wall Street Journal:

Gannett Co., the largest U.S. newspaper publisher by daily circulation, will cut between 1,000 and 2,000 jobs out of its 41,500-person work force in response to continuing revenue declines, according to a person familiar with the company's thinking.

The cuts will come from the U.S. Community Publishing division, which consists of Gannett's more than 80 local dailies, the person said, and won't affect the company's flagship, USA Today.

AP Business Writer Andrew Vanacore provides a more specific number:

Newspaper publisher Gannett Co. plans to cut 1,400 jobs in the next few weeks, about 3 percent of the work force, as it faces a prolonged slump in advertising revenue.

Tellingly, the most likely place to find that AP story is not at a newspaper Website, but at Yahoo or Google News , neither of which pay for its use, but make money whenever someone views the story on their respective sites. And therein lies the problem.

KobreGuide Welcomes 5 New Channels

KobreGuide warmly welcomes our newest Channels:

• Webby Awards
  
• Associated Press
  
• Chicago Tribune
  
• IAM Network
  
• Seattle Times

We look forward to seeing more great videojournalism from all these media outlets.

3 Ways to Rescue Newspapers... Without Killing Them

American newspapers are dying fast. What can possibly rescue them?

The current stopgap remedies (layoffs, ceasing home delivery, gutting entire sections and bureaus) are only making matters worse -- destroying the product and repelling more readers (and, hence, advertisers). Desperate cost-cutting can only lead to an irreversible death spiral.

Nobody questions that our democracy demands an independent watchdog Fourth Estate, but with the advent of the Web and it's "free content" protocol, nobody's yet figured out a sustainable business model to keep newsrooms alive.

Here are three novel solutions.

First, independent journalist T.J. Sullivan proposes that all newspapers simultaneously shut down their websites for a week, so that readers will be forced to pay for the print version. ("You'll miss me when I'm gone.")

Second, in a Time cover story, former managing editor Walter Isaacson advances a micropayment model, akin to iTunes, whereby readers would pay pennies to read individual articles, and those aggregator blogs that feed off news sites will have to pay royalty-based licensing fees. ("Fair is fair.")

Third, Editor & Publisher columnist Steve Outing supports an NPR-based approach, whereby content remains free, but regular users are encouraged to donate to the sites they frequent most often, via a monthly subscription that's divvied among their Web destinations. ("This will only sting a little.")



Sullivan has posted a petition calling for

...each and every daily American newspaper and The Associated Press (to) shut down their Web sites to non-paying subscribers for a period of one week -- from Saturday July 4 to Friday July 10, 2009 -- and during such time publish news only in print, or behind existing, password-protected Internet barriers accessible only by paying subscribers.

We believe such action will allow newspapers and The Associated Press to fulfill their obligations to deliver news during this time while also drawing attention to the threat posed to democracy by the loss of professionally staffed and ethically bound American newspapers.

Of course, news would still be reported daily in every newspaper's printed product. No editor, or reporter or publication would dare shirk their watchdog responsibilities. This isn't about stopping the presses.

But the Web? People can do without news on the Web for a week. They won't like it. They'll complain about it. But, that's exactly what has to happen before they can be expected to care. Pulling the plug gets their attention... This isn't about saving journalism jobs; it's about saving American democracy.

In his Time cover story, Isaacson points out the paradox underscoring the newspaper crisis:

Newspapers have more readers than ever. Their content, as well as that of newsmagazines and other producers of traditional journalism, is more popular than ever — even (in fact, especially) among young people.

The problem is that fewer of these consumers are paying. Instead, news organizations are merrily giving away their news. A tipping point occurred last year: more people in the U.S. got their news online for free than paid for it by buying newspapers and magazines. Who can blame them? Even an old print junkie like me has quit subscribing to the New York Times, because if it doesn't see fit to charge for its content, I'd feel like a fool paying for it.

This is not a business model that makes sense.

Isaacson appeared as a guest this week on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to discuss his micropayment scheme:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Walter Isaacson

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Funny Political News
Joke of the Day

But Editor & Publisher's Outing says fooey to micropayments.

Ugh. This approach hasn't worked. It won't work. Is completely counter to the nature of the Internet. It will hasten newspapers' death spiral.

Instead, he proposes Kachingle

Ka-what?

Kachingle is an embryonic service that plans to charge subscribers a small voluntary monthly fee (starting at $5) that will be distributed among affiliated websites who wear the Kachingle badge, based on actual traffic.

Think of it this way and you'll understand the core concept behind Kachingle: Just as online users currently pay an Internet provider and perhaps a monthly fee for all the music they want from a service like Rhapsody, they'll also pay a monthly fee for all the news and blog content on the Web. Only the last fee is voluntary, and it will be up to publishers to educate the public on the importance of paying for content online. (National Public Radio has been doing this for itself for decades. Now commercial news publishers and bloggers need to do it to benefit all of them, not just one entity.)

The next important point to grasp about the Kachingle model is that it allows individuals to financially support the online content providers that they like best. So if a newspaper wants to get paid for its content when a Web site visitor clicks through to one of its articles, it should ask that the visitor support the site via Kachingle.

Unfortunately, judging from its skeletal website and blog, Kachingle seems very much in its formative stages, so it's premature to evaluate its potential merits.

Everyone's struggling to invent a new business model to rescue newspapers. Whoever succeeds will become a superhero -- and probably a very wealthy one. We'd love to hear your thoughts. Especially if your solution incorporates the power of videojournalism in the mix.

Who Owns This Face?

Who deserves to profit from this iconic image? Photographer Mannie Garcia shot it at the National Press Club in 2006 of then junior Senator Barack Obama, for the Associated Press. Artist Shepard Fairey then used it last year for his ubiquitious campaign posters, which have generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue. Fairey acknowledges the source material, but argues that it's "fair use," and that he neither has to credit nor compensate Garcia or AP.

To further complicate the issue, Garcia's assignment was as a "temporary hire" -- neither freelancer nor staffer -- and he worked without an AP contract. Therefore he believes he solely owns the copyright to the image, but of course AP is also claiming ownership. It may be to Garcia's advantage to have AP in his corner when it comes to convincing Fairey to share profits and bestow a credit. (In this interview, Garcia says he wants recognition, but that financial gain is not his motive; he's planning to sell autographed original photo prints to raise money for charities.)

And so lawyers are hashing it out, trying to find an amicable resolution that benefits everyone. Intellectual property is a tricky business. The ability to "mash" video footage from multiple sources, and create derivative moving images, will inevitably entice videojournalists and fill courtrooms in the process. The safest solution? When in doubt, sign contracts, seek permission, give credit.