A new picture agency has sprung up specifically to sell pictures taken with mobile phones. Scoopt is encouraging people to sign up to become members for free, and then send newsworth photographs via MMS and mobile e-mail. The agency then licenses these photos for publication to the mainstream media, paying the photographer 50% of the fees earned.
This is good for members of the public who take newsworthy photos with their mobile phones because it allows them to license the images in the same way as a professional photographer would, therefore earning money from their intellectual property.
The problem is that suddenly a lot of people with mobile phones will consider themselves photographers and go looking for scenes which will yield valuable photos. This is exacerbated by requiring people to be members before they send the images in. The photojournalism industry has already been disrupted by amateurs with expensive cameras who consider themselves paparazzi and generally act in an unprofessional manner…I can’t see the situation being helped when everyone with a camera phone starts acting like paparazzi.
The concept is good, and Scoopt has strict guidelines for people to follow, but with human nature being like it is…
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