Tensions have been building in recent weeks between journalists in the White House press pool and President Obama's Press Secretary Jay Carney over a perceived reduction in photographic access to the President in the Oval Office and during overseas trips.

Earlier this month, following the President's trip to South Africa for the funeral of civil rights icon Nelson Mandela, photographers repeatedly questioned Carney about why they were denied access to...

Stock photo giant Getty Images recently amended contract terms for its contributors, which enable the agency to move images that haven’t been licensed for three years or longer to its royalty-free collections.

This new addendum has caused an uproar among the photography community. In May, the American Society of Media Photographers and...

American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) past president Richard Kelly has received the 2011 International Photographic Council (IPC) Professional Photographer Leadership Award. Kelly received this award along with five other notable photographers, each of whom specializes in a different sector of the industry.

A Pittsburgh photographer, Kelly is known for his editorial...

The American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) is rallying against a proposed IRS rule that would require businesses to report all vendor transactions greater than $600 on their income taxes.ASMP has drafted sample letters opposing the bill and is urging its members to send them to the feds to protest the new requirement. Currently, businesses report only independent contractor payments above $600...

The American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) held a forum in April to discuss the future of copyright law.The forum, called "Copyright and the New Economy," discussed how the rights-managed business model functions in today's world of easily copied media and how to search for creative ways of fairly selling media services.

The original copyright laws were written in the 1960s, when there were only a few parties that were at risk of violating copyright terms. Today, digital storage makes it possible for virtually anyone to violate copyright.

The American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) has added a new search service that allows members to list themselves as assistants. The "Find an Assistant" engine is a free, ASMP-members-only benefit and is currently still in a gamma-test phase.

The application has been designed so that chapters can borrow the search engine and place it on their regional websites. ASMP's national board may consider options to open the service to the public, but currently intends...

The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have each introduced versions of an "orphan works" bill this April. Orphan works are created compositions that are copyrighted but for which it is difficult to locate the copyright owner or the owner is unknown.

The Copyright Office has attempted to make orphan works public domain for many artists and institutions. In 2006, a similar bill was introduced but was highly unpopular with many groups and was later withdrawn.

Both new proposals would require the creation of an extensive public database of current works before either bill could become law, a feature lacking in...

The American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) received a $1.3 million royalty distribution from the Authors Coalition in December 2007, the largest such payout to date.

The Authors Coalition of America, founded in 1994, redistributes royalties on non-title-specific works that are photocopied abroad.

Unlike the United States, many European countries have created a tax on photocopying. International reprographic rights organizations funnel these funds through the Authors Coalition, which, in turn, distributes payments to its member organizations...

Award-winning photographer Burt Glinn, whose images of Fidel Castro's takeover of Cuba won him international renown, died April 9 at age 82 in Southampton, N.Y., after suffering from kidney failure and pneumonia.

Glinn was born Burton Samuel Glinn in Pittsburgh in 1925 and later served in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1946. He earned degrees in history and literature from Harvard University in 1949 and went on to work for Life magazine as a photo assistant from 1949 to 1950.

He became one of the first American members of Magnum Photo in 1951, along with...

The International Photographic Council (IPC), a nongovernmental organization of the United Nations, has announced the recipients of its 10th annual IPC Professional Photographer Leadership Awards.

Honorees include Judy Herrmann, immediate past president of the American Society of Media Photographers; George Fulton, of Advertising Photographers of America; Ann Monteith, with Professional Photographers of America; George Davis, with Professional School Photographers Association International; and Marty LaVor, of the White House News Photographers Association.