Blog
Happy September To You All!
ByChristina VaughanI hope that all of you have had a wonderful summer and are now looking forward to getting back to work and our industry’s busy months of September, October and November.
Here at the CEPIC Office, we are still basking in the warm glow of our Conference in June in Dublin with many of you reporting it as one of the most successful you have attended. We have heard wonderful feedback on new business deals struck, new partnerships signed, new ideas arising and most importantly, everyone saying how wonderful it was to be able to meet old friends and new in such a convivial city and the delightful space of the Aviva Stadium, which has only just opened to the general public these past couple of weeks.
We have had terrific stories about how international our gathering was, how much people enjoyed the seminars and the presentations, the racing, the golf, the CEPIC daily news, the Jameson Distillery and of course, our very first Annual Industry Party at the Guinness Storehouse. In a period of such change in our industry, it is so important for us all to get together with our peers in the open and transparent forum of CEPIC to share ideas, opportunities, concerns and challenges. We very much appreciate that we are undergoing a drastic period of transformation in our industry, particularly amongst some of our family-run continental membership but disruption creates opportunity and CEPIC’s role, is not only in bringing you together once a year at Congress, but to also be your collective voice in Europe.
Our office will have kept you abreast of some of the work we have been doing at policy level – in this year alone, we have endorsed the SABIP report, we have put out a statement on the Google Book Settlement, we have participated actively in the Orphan Works EC Hearing, Europeana and the IComp Initiative for Growth in the Online Environment. Our Executive Director, Sylvie Fodor, has been very proactive in keeping us at the forefront of policy making as well as industry debates and continues to attend many industry conferences. At Congress in Dublin, we brought together, as a first, the leaders of all the top Photo Agencies worldwide, covering Stock, Press and Archive; Heads of Trade Bodies from across the world and different Content Interest Groups to open a transparent dialogue on addressing change in our world.
There is without doubt Change a-happening and many of you continue to be dismayed by an apparent downward price spiral but there are also many stories of good news that breath enough opportunity for us at the CEPIC Office to feel optimistic – feedback from clients attaching great value to image prices, of niche agencies who really value their images and service attached getting better prices than ever and a cluster of new business start-ups. Our Industry may never be once what it was – but that is Good News. We have much to embrace in front of us – more images are being used than ever before; Photography is very much alive and the cream continues to rise to the top; and the colourful membership of CEPIC can celebrate that diversity is prized, knowledge and service attached to images is valued more than ever and that the next stage of Technology in the 3.0 world is about flexible tools and autonomy. We should never stop celebrating our Europeaness and the opportunities that our culture presents us.
Please feel free to contact us directly at our offices with any thoughts, questions and ideas you may have. Our next Board Meeting will take place in Berlin at the end of September and we would be happy to add any of your salient points to our Agenda for discussion.
Meanwhile, have a marvelous start to September and we look forward to gathering you all again at Congress next year. On that point, our team have recce’d both Valencia and Istanbul, the two top proposals this year and we will be reporting back to you very soon our final decision based on Costs, Logistics and Concept for 2011.
Warmest regards to all of you.
Christina Vaughan
CEPIC President
Comments
More News
Archive
Latest Blog Entries
BAPLA Meet With The IPO
At the end of last week BAPLA held a very positive meeting at the Wellcome Trust with some of its members and three representatives from the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) ... Read more
Similar Photographs and Copyright Infringement
Temple Island Collections v New English Teas. Can the copyright in a photograph be infringed by shooting a similar photograph? Read more
Your Chance to Respond to UK Copyright: The Case for Change
You should be aware that the UK Government is planning to implement some changes relating to copyright and many of those are based on recommendations made in the Hargreaves Review. Read more
Views sought on UK's copyright licensing system
In light of the recent Hargreaves report and its recommendations on the state of the copyright licensing system in the UK, representatives from the creative industry are being asked to express their views on whether the UK's current copyright licensing system is fit for purpose in the digital age. Read more
Looking Forward in 2012
Crucial developments are taking place in Europe and around the world. A look back at 2011 will help us to look foward in 2012. Read more
Copyright in Portrait Photographs
The European Court of Justice delivered a judgment in the important case PAINER v STANDARD VERLAGS GmbH Read more
Pepper Stark five years of business
Starting with Pepper Stark, we have just celebrated our 5th year of business on 2nd June. Read more
iPad And HD To Lead Renaissance Of The Photo Professional?
Christina Vaughan, founder and CEO of Image Source and president of the European trade body CEPIC, which represents over 1,000 picture sources in Europe, was speaking to siliconrepublic.com during CEPIC’s annual congress in Dublin this week. Read more
Report on the first NLimage Fair 2011
The first NLimage Fair on Wednesday the 12th of October was a great success. For the first time, NLimage organised a fair for picture editors, art buyers and art directors. A good 250 image users made their way Amsterdam. Read more
Michael Brown becomes 'Friend of CEPIC'
I’m delighted to be one of the first ‘Friends of CEPIC’ because I’ve been an active supporter since the early days in Perpignan & Berlin, few of you will remember those early meetings. Read more