Haiti Schism, Morel vs. AFP
octobre 16, 2010 by gholubowicz · 7 Comments
The case of Daniel Morel vs AFP goes unnoticed in France, yet its legal implications are vast, as are the various positions stated by different well known actors of photojournalism.
Make no doubt that Daniel Morel only had one thing in mind on January 12 of this year: witnessing the atrocities and rampages resulting from the devastating earthquake which struck Haiti. Morel, former AP photographer, stopped covering news a while ago to refocus his work on documentaries projects. But this time, it was a matter of History, his history, the history of thousands Haitians, friends, relatives, neighbors, all living together in the same city, sharing the same culture, the same destiny.
How would have he ignored that, how being a photographer and obliterate this major event? He had to alert the public; he had to transmit this information and to bear witness for generations to come. He did it for History, for his history and for ours.
For those who missed the whole story and the legal battle engaged in since then by AFP – who “STOLE” Morel’s pictures on Twipics and sold them without compensation – against D.Morel, take a look at BJP who made a great compilation work on this.
If the debate is getting tougher online, about legal questions, Terms of Service and what should be used as argument from both parties. If comments are uncertain about whether or not the Twitter & Twitpics ToS should be different or the uploading process more careful with embedded data, there’s a more subtle concern that nobody seems to care about. A question that would potentially reshape the way we’re looking our business and our practices.
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Quand DRR tombe à l’eau…
octobre 29, 2008 by gholubowicz · Leave a Comment
Depuis hier, Photoshelter devient la seule plateforme « tout-en-un ». La rumeur a enflé très rapidement, dès lors que certains client de Digital Railroad avait été averti que la plateforme fondée en 2003 par Evan Nisselson était en recherche de fonds pour soutenir son activité.
Certain prédisait la fin de DRR dans les quelques semaines à venir, mais las, hier les détenteurs de compte n’ont finalement pas pu acceder à leur serveur, quelques heures après, la page d’accueil de DRR affichait ce communiqué:
« To our valued Members:
We’re sorry to inform you that Digital Railroad (DRR) has shut down.
On
October 15th we reported that the company had reduced its staff and was
aggressively pursuing additional financing and/or a strategic partner.
Unfortunately, those efforts were unsuccessful. Therefore Digital
Railroad has been forced to suspend all operations.This archive may only be accessible for the next 24 hours.
Digital
Railroad has attracted a loyal set of members. Thank you for allowing
us to serve the photographic community these past few years.All questions pertaining to claims should be addressed to:
Digital Railroad Inc.
c/o Diablo Management Group
1452 N. Vasco Road, #301
Livermore, CA 94551″
Inutile d’évoquer dans quel désarrois ont pu se retrouver les quelques centaines de photographes et les dizaines d’agences abonnés aux services de DRR lorsqu’ils se sont retrouvés face à cette page blanche. Pour ceux qui n’avaient pas prévu de backup, il semblerait qu’il n’existe pas d’autre solution que de contacter directement ce qui reste de DRR à l’adresse ci dessus.
Pour les autres (les prévoyants paranoïaques et rapides) la seule maison à présent disponible reste Photoshelter.
La plateforme a senti le coup venir et offre un abonnement spécial jusqu’au 4 novembre pour les réfugiés de la catastrophe, et quelques améliorations d’interface et d’intégration ont été apporté pour répondre aux attentes des nouveaux venus (et des anciens).
N’hésitez pas dès aujourd’hui à partager vos impressions sur cette page dans les commentaires, en attendant un Dossier plus complet (auquel je travaille) je vous renvoie (pour les anglophiles) au blog de sur lequel vous retrouverez les infos et les analyses utiles à votre migration vers un autre hebergeur.
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