Youth in Focus (YIF) netted more than $80,000 in support of its mission at its 12th annual Doublexposure 2008 auction on April 18. The event offered images by local and national professionals, plus the best works by YIF students. One student piece sold for $1,200.

The auction was held at the Armory in Seattle's South Lake Union Park. Sponsors for the event included Getty Images, Safeco Insurance and Museum Quality Framing; images were donated by...

In an effort to make copyright processing more efficient, the U.S. Copyright Office is in the process of transitioning from a paper-based to a web-based registration process.

The conversion has resulted in a temporary backlog of paper applications that could cause receipt of a certificate to take up to eight months. The Copyright Office is encouraging users to begin registering claims using its online Electronic Copyright Office...

The G2 Gallery in Venice, Calif., held its grand opening March 8 with a private exhibition featuring the works of nature photographer Tom Mangelsen. The gallery doors opened on March 11.

G2, the brainchild of Dan and Susan Gottlieb, is an environmentally conscious gallery that seeks to educate the community by displaying works of distinguished nature and wildlife photographers. The Gottliebs plan to keep the gallery strictly for artists who work with environmental themes; it may also venture into art outside photography.

The gallery plans to donate 15 percent of sales to environmental organizations, including...

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 Red Gum Creative Campus in Anaheim, Calif., has opened new rental facilities that include five studios designed for shooting specific subjects.

For example, an Automotive Studio, ideal for photographing vehicles, has ceiling heights of up to 28 feet and an in-floor turntable to spin subject cars. Red Gum's Water Studio is set up for above- and below-water shooting and liquid effects. A Product Studio also includes overhead hoists for heavy-duty product photography...

The Palm Springs Art Museum has received an anonymous gift of more than 500 images to add to its photo collection.

The addition is composed of photographs and limited-edition books with original photography dating from the mid-1800s to the late 20th century. It contains early works from Francis Firth and James Anderson, as well as later works from Alfred Stieglitz, Heinrich Kuhn and Julia Cameron. Many contemporary masters including Jock Sturges and Andre Kertesz are also featured.

These new works add some of the first examples of European photography...

The North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) has added group health insurance to its list of member benefits. Through USI Affinity, NANPA members and their families now have access to multiple plans and an extensive network of national providers.

The organization counts among its membership a higher-than-average number of people who, as freelancers, have never been able to take advantage of group rates.

 Enrollees in NANPA's Member Health Insurance Program will have access to 750,000 providers nationwide and will have...

Annie Leibovitz has come under attack recently for a photo she took of Miley Cyrus, the 15-year-old Disney Channel star of "Hannah Montana."

The image, created for Vanity Fair, reveals a topless Cyrus clinging to a satin sheet with her back toward the camera. The Disney Channel commented that "a situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines."

Cyrus, also the daughter of country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, apologized to her fans and said she was "embarrassed" by the photos.

Leibovitz issued a personal statement on April 28, saying, "I'm sorry that my portrait of Miley...

Photographers Arthur Grace and Chris Usher have both won settlements in cases brought against Corbis Corp. for the loss of images they submitted to the stock agency. The settlements total more than $800,000.

The court compensated Grace at $667,685 for 45,000 lost images and Usher at $157,121 for 12,640 images. Grace had originally sought $100 million in damages, while Usher asked for $4.5 million. An original 2005 ruling awarded Grace $472,000, which he appealed for being inadequate.

Grace sued Corbis in 2002 when the agency failed to return...

The estates of two photographers closely associated with Marilyn Monroe have won the rights to freely license their images of the actress. In March, a federal court judge in California clarified the Right of Publicity for the Milton H. Greene Archives and Tom Kelley Studios.

Previously, rights had been claimed by Marilyn Monroe LLC (MMLLC) and CMG Worldwide, making it difficult for the Greene Archives and Kelley Studios to license many images. A May 2007 court decision ruled that Monroe had no publicity rights to her image...