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Posts Tagged ‘Associated’

The Associated Press partners with Sony to exclusively provide its visual journalists with Sony camera gear

24 Jul

The Associated Press (AP) has announced it’s partnering with Sony to make the Japanese electronics manufacturer the sole supplier of photo and video equipment for its visual journalists around the globe.

This massive undertaking will see visual journalists in more than 250 locations across 100 countries supplied with Sony cameras, lenses and accessories to capture the more than 3,000 photos and 200 videos submitted every day. AP says ‘A wide variety of Sony’s imaging solutions products will begin delivery immediately, including the full-frame mirrorless Alpha cameras, FS series professional video cameras and an assortment of Sony’s 57 E-mount lenses including G Master models.’

To find out more about the collaboration, we had a conversation with AP’s Director of Photography, J. David Ake. In the interview, he explains why the partnership happened now, how long it’s taken to get this collaboration together and what it means for the hundreds of AP visual journalists around the world.

Our interview with AP’s Director of Photography

Press release:

AP to Equip all Visual Journalists Globally with Sony Imaging Products

Sony Electronics to become AP’s exclusive global imaging provider for photo and video journalism

July 23, 2020 – SAN DIEGO, CA – Sony Electronics Inc. a global leader in imaging, and The Associated Press, the trusted global news organization, announced today a new collaboration that will make Sony the exclusive imaging products and support provider for AP news photographers and video journalists around the world.

With journalists in nearly 250 locations in 100 countries, AP provides factual, compelling journalism in all formats, including 3,000 photos and 200 videos each day. The news agency has a distinguished history of powerful visual journalism, winning the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography — AP’s 54th Pulitzer and 32nd for photography — and garnering recognition from the Royal Television Society for excellence in video.

A wide variety of Sony’s imaging solutions products will begin delivery immediately, including the full-frame mirrorless Alpha™ cameras, FS series professional video cameras and an assortment of Sony’s 57 E-mount lenses including G Master™ models.

“We are extremely honored to announce this collaboration with The Associated Press, an organization with an incredible history in journalism that continues to raise the bar for global news reporting and delivery,” said Neal Manowitz, deputy president for Imaging Products and Solutions Americas at Sony Electronics. “The Associated Press is a universally trusted brand for news information in the world. We are honored to equip AP’s journalists with our technology and support, giving them the opportunity to capture, transmit and deliver imagery in ways they never could before.”

“Sony’s history of innovation aligns well with AP’s, and with our vision for the future of visual journalism,” said Derl McCrudden, AP deputy managing editor for visual and digital journalism. “AP is committed to providing the best imagery to our member news organizations and customers across the globe. Adopting Sony’s cutting-edge equipment and technology allows us to do that, by enabling our photographers and video journalists to be faster and more flexible, ultimately creating better visual journalism.”

When the transition to Sony is complete, AP’s video journalists and photographers will for the first time be equipped with the same brand of cameras, allowing for seamless collaboration among the news agency’s journalists as they tell the world’s stories in whatever medium is right for the moment.

AP visual journalists will be able to share Sony cameras and lenses, as well as the images they capture, to produce a news report unhindered by technical limitations.

“The new mirrorless technology in Sony’s cameras allows for a completely silent operation, meaning our photojournalists can work in environments without interrupting the scene around them,” said AP Director of Photography J. David Ake. “This is a huge leap forward in photojournalism.”

In addition to delivery of product, AP and Sony will work together to improve workflow and efficiency of field operations, including testing of 5G capabilities.

Sony offers 5G through its Xperia™ product line, which uses technology from its professional monitors, cameras and audio devices.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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The Associated Press criticized over social media rights requests for free content

20 May

Lawyer and self-professed ‘copyright geek’ Mike Dunford recently drew attention to the Associated Press’s controversial requests to use content posted on social media. He shares a copy of the social media release form the AP asks social media users to agree to, breaking down each part with an explanation and issues related to them. Though some of the AP’s presumed concerns are legitimate, according to Dunford, he ultimately claims that the release terms are ‘abusive across the board.’

The controversy started when lawyer Jay Mashall Wolman shared a tweet from Associated Press editor R.J. Rico, which has since been deleted, bringing attention to the AP’s social media release form. Wolman then shared several other similar content requests made by the Associated Press and its employees, each asking different social media users whether they took the content that caught the AP’s attention, as well as whether the AP could use it for free.

The requests are joined by an image of the AP’s social media release form, which asks the person who captured the content to read the message, then to respond to the message containing the form with an agreement to the terms. The AP’s social media release form claims for itself:

…world-wide, non-exclusive right to (and all consents to) use, reproduce, prepare derivative works of, edit, translate, distribute, publicly perform, and publicly display the content throughout the world in perpetuity by any and all means now known or hereafter created in all media now known or hereafter created; an AP shall further have the right to license these right to others…

In addition, the social media release form includes a section that requires the user to agree to be responsible for any copyright matters that may result from the use of the content by AP or any entity it licenses the content to, stating:

[The social media user agrees that] you are the copyright owner or the copyright owner’s authorized agent and that you are fully entitled to grant these rights in favor of AP and that there is no agreement or other restriction preventing this grant of rights. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless the AP and its licensees from and against any claims, losses, liabilities, damages, costs and expenses arising from any breach or alleged breach of these representations and warranties.

Wolman tagged multiple people in his tweets, including Dunford, who gave a long commentary on the release form in a tweet thread of his own.

Dunford points out that though Twitter’s terms may allow the Associated Press to embed these tweets in its online articles without getting prior permission, he ‘wouldn’t want to rely entirely on that.’ There have been examples of controversy over publications embedding tweeted content without getting explicit permission to do so. Dunford also points out that embedding isn’t useful for the AP when it comes to video and printed content.

Requesting that a social media user allow a major news company to use the content for free is problematic when it comes to paying content creators for their works. However, Dunford zeroes in on the social media release form terms, claiming that they are ‘MUCH more of an issue’ than simply asking to use content without paying for it.

Dunford points out that the AP and its lawyers are at ‘a substantial advantage’ over the unrepresented social media user when it comes to securing content rights. Digging into the actual terms, Dunford points out multiple concerns, including that the AP’s release form gives it the right to license the social media user’s content and it gets the non-exclusive right to forever use the image as if it owns it. ‘It’s abusive,’ Dunford says.

The biggest concerns start with the second paragraph, however, with Dunford stating in his tweets:

National Press Photographers Association (NPAA) General Counsel Mickey Osterreicher weighed in on the matter with a tweet of his own, encouraging content creators to refrain from agreeing to terms like this:

Wolman found examples of AP employees tweeting the social media release form dating back to 2015.

For social media users who fail to see the potential harm in accepting terms like this, an anonymous legal Twitter account allegedly belonging to an Australian lawyer detailed some of the problems users may encounter, including the fact that owning the copyright to the content doesn’t protect the user against potentially being sued over it in the future.

Wolf points out, among many other things:

You’ve heard of bots that do automated DMCA takedowns. Imagine that there’s an automated DMCA takedown of your video. Imagine that results in legal action over who has the rights to the video. You don’t have to imagine too hard, it happens all the time.

Now imagine that you’ve agreed to indemnify the AP for the costs of bringing/defending those proceedings.

Wolf concludes his commentary with a solid point, stating, ‘Can’t afford a lawyer? Then you definitely can’t afford to grant indemnity.’ The Associated Press has not commented on the criticism and concerns.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Associated Press photographer’s video shows ‘travel photographers’ staging photos

22 Feb

Last month, Associated Press photographer A. M. Ahad shared a video on Facebook that shows something disappointing… if not terribly surprising. His video, captured at a train station in Bangladesh, shows photographers shooting staged images of a boy who is posing out a train window as if in prayer.

Ahad criticized the photographers’ actions, saying such staging is used in an effort to capture award-winning images at the expense of professional etiquette.

Speaking with PetaPixel, Ahad explained that a large number of camera-wielding tourists show up for Eid al-Adha and Bishwa Ijtema to snap images that are often posed: “They are all around making images and ruining things for professional photographers.”

“Bangladesh is not for people like this who came to ruin professional photographers etiquette for the sake of winning medal,” Ahad said in the Facebook post that accompanies the video, expressing frustration that photographers who are staging scenes are getting in the way of actual professionals. “Stop telling us that you are foreign media covering the congregation when you have no proof to show us […] just stay home, for goodness sake.”

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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