An Open Letter To Performers
A number of the media industry’s biggest associations and organizations have published an open letter to performers on behalf of thousands of photographers and journalists in the United States.
The letter is titled “An Open Letter to Performers Regarding Standard Terms and Conditions for Photographer and Reporter Credentials,” and it has been signed by 11 major groups so far, including the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA), Poynter Institute, American Society of News Editors, Newspaper Association of America, and Society of Professional Journalists. Please consider this TheCameraForum.Com’s official statement of support in joining with this group. I would expect to see more join soon.
For those of you unfamiliar with the current situation, PetaPixel has done a great job of covering this issue regarding photographer access to performers and who owns the results of their journalistic work. Their individual stories are these, Taylor Swift, the Foo Fighters, Dweezil Zappa, and Janet Jackson have all made headlines for their extremely strict, restrictive, and and rights-grabbing contracts that photographers and reporters are forced to sign before being allowed to cover a concert. Any sane individual should understand Freedom of the Press is a protected, Constitutional right. Perhaps this valiant effort will produce results acceptable to everyone concerned. If not, well, perhaps photographers should just not cover those who refuse to play fair… and share the facts with the celebrity fan base on social media without photos- only a #hashtag with some text. How boring.
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