PLUS (Picture Licensing Universal System), an image rights management group, received funding this summer to develop its PLUS Registry.

An online resource, the registry will include features such as unique identifiers for image rights; holders and protections; secure and diverse metadata tools; and a centralized hub for licensing and registration.

Released in 2010, Adobe’s Creative Suite 5 and Lightroom 3 include numerous PLUS metadata fields.

Kenneth Starr, a former financial advisor for photographer Annie Leibovitz and other celebrities, has been arrested for embezzling $30 million of his clients’ money.
Starr, who was placed in charge of Leibovitz’s financial assets and income, is accused of diverting money to pay for personal expenses, such as a $32,000 wedding band and a condominium worth $7.5 million...

In the second such case heard in the federal court system this year, an Arizona judge has rejected a photographer’s copyright infringement claims on the grounds that the images were improperly registered under Corbis Images’ bulk copyright program. The suit, Bean vs. Houghton Mifflin, was filed by photographer Tom Bean against Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, alleging that the publisher used more than 100 of his images between 2000 and 2009 beyond the scope of the licenses granted by Corbis. In June, a New York court also ruled in a suit brought by photographers Marc and David Muench that Corbis’ bulk copyright program inadequately registers images...

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 Ansel Adams Publishing Trust has officially refuted the claim that 65 glass plates found at a garage sale in Fresno, Calif., were made by photographer Ansel Adams. In a lawsuit filed in August, the trust said it believes the negatives were created by previously unknown photographer Earl Brooks.
As the owner of Adams’ images and trademark, the trust is filing suit to stop Rick Norsigian, who purchased the plates 10 years ago for $45, from selling prints online under Adams’ name at ricknorsigian.com...

For the eighth year in a row, Communications Concepts has honored PhotoMedia with its APEX Grand Award, this time in the Illustration and Design category (For-Profit, Small Office category).

We received the 2010 APEX Grand Award for a full-page photo of a praying mantis by Mark Moffett in our Summer 2009 issue profile, “The Adventures of Doctor Bugs.” That story also received an APEX Award of Excellence in the Interviews and Personal Profiles category.

Altogether, PhotoMedia has received nine APEX Grand Awards and 12 Awards of Excellence over the last 11 years. This was the 22nd annual APEX Awards competition, honoring publishing excellence nationally. Only 100 Grand Award winners were chosen from almost 4,000 entries.   

PhotoMedia has also won 6 Maggie awards in the last 11 years.    

Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, George Clooney, Johnny Depp and Cameron Diaz are just a few of the faces picked up by Getty Images in August through a deal to subsidize celebrity images by Los Angeles Times photographers.

This new collection of images will be available on Contour, a division of Getty Images that focuses on professional licensing of celebrity portraiture...

In an attempt to prevent Google from unfairly copying, scanning and displaying copyrighted images, the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) and other trade groups have filed a class action lawsuit against the search-engine company.

For the past five years, Google has been uploading millions of books and other publications containing copyrighted images and displaying them to the public as part of the Google Library Project — all allegedly without adhering to the rights of the authors.