The American Society of Media Photographers, having reviewed a copy of what is allegedly a new freelancer contract from Condé Nast, calls it one of the worst the organization's staff has ever seen. Although the contract appears to leave the photographer with marketable rights, the reality is that it comes very close to assigning all rights to Condé Nast, according to ASMP, which is urging photographers to negotiate changes before signing the contract.

The contract does not deal with compensation, leaving the specifics of each assignment to be arranged on a case-by-case basis, ASMP reports. The society also warns that Condé Nast will have the exclusive rights to first publication...

Ivey Imaging, based in Seattle, has acquired the assets of Southern California Screen Printing, including a specially designed 37,000-square-foot production facility and a broad range of technology and equipment. Ivey also recently established a sales office in Los Angeles.

Southern California Screen Printing, founded in Fontana, Calif.,in 1987, includes among its clients such companies as 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, Kroger and Imax.

Rich Ayres, owner of SoCal, will continue with the company as vice president of business development.

Danita Delimont Stock Photography, based in Bellevue, Wash., has launched a visual search feature on its web site, danitadelimont.com.

After conducting a standard keyword search, the user can use the visual search tool to browse through the results to find an image that is close to what he or she has in mind. Selecting an icon beneath the image causes the search feature to re-sort the images pulled up by the original keyword search, placing the closest visual matches at the top of the page.

Both traditional keyword search and visual search options are available. The company offers more than 70,000 images online.

The George Eastman House and the International Center of Photography have allied to create PhotoMuse.org, a collaborative web site designed to provide a free resource for the study of photography at work inthe world. A prototype version of the site, containing more than 1,600 images, currently is available. When completed in 2006, the site is expected to include almost 200,000 photographs from both collections.

The Images for Conservation Fund's Pro-Tour of Nature Photography has received applications from 95 landowners who would like to participate in the event, scheduled for next April in the Texas Hill Country.

The Pro-Tour, which will match nature photographers with private landowners, seeks to foster greater wildlife conservation through the promotion of photo tourism income for private landowners (see PhotoMedia, Summer 2004, p. 34). The landowner applicant pool will be narrowed from 95 applicants to 20 finalists, who will be matched...

Seattle-based OnRequest Images has launched a new service to provide customers with broader choices about their involvement in the image production process. Custom Assignment Services allows customers to select photographers and direct photo shoots, just as they would with regular assignment photography.

Trade associations, such as the Professional Photographers of America, American Society of Media Photographers and Stock Artists Alliance, are cautious about the new service. Representatives of the groups have expressed concern about spec assignments, fees, royalties and copyright issues.

KOAT, the ABC affiliate in Albuquerque, N.M., issued a written apology to the Rio Grande Sun for using a photograph from the weekly newspaper's web site without permission. The station, owned by Hearst-Argyle Television, also paid the paper $2,300 in legal fees incurred in pursuing the copyright infringement.

The Sun printed the apology, while its managing editor commented that the problem was all too common and that frustration had led the paper to "draw the line." The picture in question was aired in conjunction with an item about the arrest of a Pojoaque, N.M., substitute schoolteacher on drug charges.The station credited the image to the newspaper with type on the screen.

After emerging from receivership earlier this year, Ilford Imaging, based in Mobberley, England, has succeeded in restructuring its operations to maintain its presence in the marketplace. The black-and-white photographic manufacturing company, established in 1879, was able to remain in business by selling land at its Mobberley headquarters to an investment company on the basis that the plant would remain.

Ilford Photo is the trading name of Harman Technology, the company under which the new enterprise trades, and is the brand that will be used for all monochrome products...