On July 1, the Copyright Office increased the fee for basic copyright registration from $30 to $45.

According to the American Society of Media Photographers, registering is the cheapest and most effective action that photographers can take to protect their businesses, and hundreds of images can be registered...

Brooks Institute, with campuses in Santa Barbara and Ventura, Calif., has re-established the Alumni Association of Brooks Institute and named a 13-member board of directors. The board will be charged with creating programs aimed at enhancing student life on campus, establishing alumni connections and offering networking opportunities...

In April, Getty Images acquired Pixel Images Holdings Limited, the Irish parent company of Stockbyte and Stockdisc, for $135 million. Most of the content licensed under the Stockbyte and Stockdisc brands through a worldwide network of distributors is already available on www.gettyimages.com, with the remainder to be added by midyear.

Despite an aggressive acquisition strategy over the past 18 months, its holdings now include Photonica, Digital Vision, Medio Images and iStockphoto, the company recently lost standing...

At its annual meeting in late April, Corbis released details of the privately held company's financial performance for 2005 and its goals for the remainder of 2006. The company reported a revenue increase of 34 percent over the previous year, for a total of $228 million. That figure, however, includes the acquisition of the European stock agency Zefa, which augmented revenues by approximately 30 percent.

In part due to the Zefa purchase, Corbis management announced that the company had failed to achieve the profitability projected at the 2005annual meeting. In order to attain its goals for this year, the company intends to expand...

At its 12th Annual Summit, held earlier this year in Denver, the North American Nature Photography Association launched a community outreach event to bring together nature photographers and leaders in local conservation efforts.

As part of the proceedings, a special award was given to a current conservation project, the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative: Pyramid Peak Trail Stabilization Project. The partnership of nonprofit organizations, concerned individuals...

Congress is considering a bill that would affect the disposition of orphan works, those images whose copyright owners may be impossible to identify and locate. Early this year, the Copyright Office completed its study of problems related to these works and presented its findings to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The study was in response to concerns that uncertainty surrounding ownership might discourage subsequent creators and users from incorporating such works in new creative efforts, or from making such works available..

Citing the difficulty of remaining competitive in the rapidly changing digital era, Konica Minolta is withdrawing from the camera and photography market. The move followed last year's announcement from Bronica that it was also retiring from the medium-format camera business, terminating a 47-year-old brand.

The surge of worldwide digitization has resulted in a rapid shrinking of the traditional silver halide photographic market, according to Konica management. In such a changing world, profits for camera and photo businesses...

Late last year, Cascades Academy of Photography in Issaquah closed its doors after five years of operation. Owners Di Irons and Bob Iness say they were casualties of an industry-wide slump. Over the past couple of years, Iness says, enrollment in photography courses has declined, on the adult education level as well as in the community colleges.

The proliferation of digital cameras has greatly affected the way photography is taught...

Earlier this year, Jonathan Stone, president of Rainier Photographic Supply, purchased Dick's Camera from Dick Dahlgard, who had owned and operated the Seattle-based business since 1969. In February, Rainier Photographic Supply moved from its Rainier Valley location, where it has operated since 1976, to the Dick's store in Burien, Wash., one mile west of Sea-Tac Airport. Phone numbers, fax numbers and e-mail addresses for both stores remain...

Nearly 80 percent of profession-al photographers own digital SLR cameras, according to a recent InfoTrends/CAP Ventures survey. At least 52 percent of those surveyed said that they plan to purchase a new digital SLR within a year.

Photographers also are taking a large number of shots...