Are you ready to compete in PPA's International Photographic Competition (IPC)? Don't wait too much longer because the entry deadline is April 27!

Entering IPC is easy--just click here for rules, entry forms and tutorials: www.ppa.com/competitions/international.php.

A few things to remember:

• The entry deadline is April 27, and the entry fee is $95. The late entry fee for submissions between April 28 and May 10 will be $155.
• Both digital images and prints are accepted. Get more details in this week's Vital Signs email.
• Be sure to choose your Grand Imaging Awards (GIA) entry category when you register. Last year's GIA winners were recognized at the Grand Imaging Awards celebration at Imaging USA and earned trophies and cash prizes!
• Earn Exhibition Merits for your winning images and start your path to earning a PPA degree. If your image received a Seal of Approval at your District Competition, you must enter it into the IPC to earn your PPA merit.

Enter and continue your journey toward image excellence. Rules, entry forms and tutorials can all be found here: www.ppa.com/competitions/international.php.

Congratulations to all of you for taking the time to get involved and help pass H.R. 4! Making your voices heard in the halls of the U.S. House of Representatives helped ensure the bill reached the outcome we desired: passage.

The vote was 314-112 with only six members not voting on this important measure. To see how your representative voted, go here:
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2011/roll162.xml

Our work to ensure the repeal becomes law doesn't stop here--it continues in the U.S. Senate. We are delighted to report that this bill has already been placed on their calendar for a vote. Once PPA learns the timing of how the Senate will consider H.R. 4, we will let you know what steps you can take to achieve another victory on this key piece of legislation. If you're ready to contact your senator now, visit the Contact Congress page.

Again, thank you for your hard work...and congratulations on making a difference in the outcome of this vote!

UPDATE: As you can see, this legislation is moving rapidly! In fact, the U.S. House just voted at 3:00pm to take up debate on H.R. 4 and added some substitute text (H.R. 705), so we wanted to pass it along. They are moments away from a decision, so weigh in and get your voice heard now!

Please use the links below to review the bills and the newly proposed substitute text (H.R. 705):

• H.R. 705 (Substitute Text to H.R. 4): http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr705rh/pdf/BILLS-112hr705rh.pdf 
• H.R. 4: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr4rh/pdf/BILLS-112hr4rh.pdf

Write, e-mail or call your member of Congress today, and tell them to vote "yes" on H.R. 4, the Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act.

The passage of H.R. 4 will overturn section 9006 of the new health care law that mandates small-business owners to file a 1099 form for every business-to-business transaction over $600 a year. Reversing this reporting requirement will relieve a huge paperwork burden for small-business photographers!

Remember, this new reporting requirement has nothing to do with improving health care. It simply forces photographers, like you, to spend more time on regulatory compliance rather than running a business. (To read more about the importance of eliminating this tax provision click here.)

The U.S. House is voting on Thursday, March 3, so send your message soon! Visit the Contact Congress page to act now.

Get the 1099 Reporting Requirement Repealed

Don't forget: professional photographers have another chance to fight the existing 1099 reporting requirement. We need you to make your voices heard by contacting your congressperson today to bring H.R. 5141 - the Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act out of committee.

Rep. Dan Lundgren's (R-3rd -CA) bill, H.R. 5141, fully repeals Section 9006 of the new health care law that mandates small-business owners to file a 1099 form for every business-to-business transaction over $600 a year. This new reporting requirement will wreak havoc on small businesses (like photography studios) by drastically increasing their paperwork burden.

This new reporting requirement has nothing to do with improving health care...it is just another way to raise government revenue on the backs of small-business owners, while forcing them to spend more time on regulatory compliance than on running their businesses.

On Tuesday, September 14th, the Senate voted not to include a repeal of the 1099 reporting requirement in their version of H.R. 5297 - Small Business Jobs Act of 2010. With the Senate's passage of the bill, the House now has an opportunity to make sure a repeal provision is included!

We need 218 members of Congress to sign on to the discharge petition. Contact your congressperson today and urge him/her to sign the petition, so Congress can vote to stop this new paperwork tidal wave. Visit the Contact Congress page now to call, write or e-mail.

In addition to representing members on copyright issues, PPA is a strong advocate on small business issues, primarily relating to health care. Through the Small Business Coalition for Affordable Healthcare, PPA advocates health care solutions that meet the needs of small business owners, employees, the self-employed and their families. In previous congressional sessions, PPA has supported various health reform bills, in particular those that would provide trade associations the ability to create insurance pools on behalf of its members

PPA members asked for it, and we're doing it! PPA is launching a consumer-focused campaign called "See the Difference," targeted to wedding couples, seniors and families to reinforce the value of professional photography. Online advertising and social media will drive prospects to specialized landing pages. The wedding-focused landing page can be viewed at www.ppa.com/weddingphotographer. (Landing pages featuring senior photography and family/children portraiture will follow.)

These special landing pages will highlight articles, image galleries, videos, tutorials and search capabilities linked to our exclusive PPA Find-a-Photographer database. We are also researching the use of vertical websites and targeted e-mail marketing. Of course, we'll be pushing the campaign through PPA social media channels, and we hope that PPA members will help us get the word out through blogs, Facebook pages and Twitter accounts.

What can you do? (Or don't do?)
Do Update Your Find-A-Photographer Profile
As we're directing consumers to Find-a-Photographer, make sure your profile is up to date with your logo, headshot and your most stunning sample images! (Please note: Aspiring PPA members are not listed in the Find-a-Photographer database.)

Here's an idea of the traffic we're hoping to drive to Find-a-Photographer: During our test campaign in June (10 days long), we generated 1,615 clicks and 2,499,474 impressions! Over 200 of those visitors conducted searches on the Find-a-Photographer database and about 20% were reading the articles about selecting a professional.

Don't Click It!
You may see our ads on Google, Facebook and other online sites. Please don't click on the ads (we know it's tempting, but...), as we will incur costs for those clicks and it will make our tracking data inaccurate. (Ad copy is based on high-performing keywords.)

On Tuesday we passed along information about a legal ruling last week in New York, the case Muench Photography Inc. v. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company and R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company (09-CV-2669).

We know the decision handed down in this case is of great concern to you. Rest assured that our attorneys are actively monitoring the case, and we'll keep you informed of any updates as the appeals process unfolds. We have also been in touch with Corbis and gathered details about the steps they plan on taking. Below is an update on this case and its effect on bulk copyright registration.

Do you have images with Corbis?
Did you sign the Corbis Copyright Assignment Affirmation Declaration?
If so, you may have invalid copyright registrations.

The Advertising Photographers of America (APA) passed along the following important information that might just apply to you:

Last week, Judge Loretta A. Preska of the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, issued a summary judgment in the case Muench Photography Inc. v. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company and R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company (09-CV-2669). In the case, Muench Photography Inc. (MPI) claimed that Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company (HMH) and R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company (Donnelley) "engaged in the unauthorized and impermissible use" of MPI images. The defendants, HMH and Donnelley, moved to dismiss the complaint arguing that the photographs at issue were not properly registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. The defendant's motion was granted in part and denied in part.

Summary of the Case
MPI licenses photographs for Marc and David Muench. Between March 2001 and December 2006, MPI--through its agent Corbis--sold limited licenses to HMH. MPI claims HMH exceeded the number of licenses granted, causing unauthorized reproductions of the images. This constituted copyright infringement in the eyes of MPI. By printing the textbooks wherein the images were used, MPI claims Donnelley is also guilty of violating MPI's copyright.

At question is the process of copyright registration for the majority of these images. MPI had a copyright registration agreement with Corbis granting legal title in selected images digitized by Corbis and included in the Corbis digital collection "solely for the purpose of copyright registration." After registration, Corbis agreed to "promptly reassign legal title to Marc and David Muench with respect to (their) registered original film images."

The Corbis procedure of acquiring from photographers the signed Copyright Assignment Affirmation Declaration documents that allowed them to make compilation registrations rested upon the questionable and legally unsubstantiated foundation of a single letter from the Copyright Office's Associate Register for Registration & Recordation, Nanette Petruzzelli. The Petruzzelli letter stated that the Copyright Office considers the procedure instituted by Corbis to be valid whereby Corbis is the author of the compilation by an acceptable transfer statement of the photographers and interpreted the claim to extend to the individual photographers. The letter also stated that the Copyright Office preferred, but did not require, the registration application to contain the names of all of the photographers on continuation sheets. The process was compared to the process to register magazines and other serial works, which do not require the listing of individual contributor names.

The unsupported written statements made by Petruzzelli seemed to legitimatize the questionable procedure of Corbis. If fact, it ineffectually "registered" an unknown large number of images that has resulted in a significant increase in vulnerability for photographers that have used this system through Corbis.

On the eve of the White House "Bipartisan Meeting on Health Reform," Professional Photographers of America (PPA) and the Small Business Coalition for Affordable Healthcare tell congressional leadership what small business owners want to see in any health care reform bill.

In a letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-8th-CA) on February 24, 2010, PPA asks Congress to consider the inclusion of small business-friendly provisions in a manner that won't increase the cost of doing business. Read more about PPA's suggestions here.

If you want to communicate the importance of having access to affordable, quality health care, we encourage you to visit PPA's Contact Congress page to participate in a "Health Care Call-in," organized by the Small Business Coalition for Affordable Healthcare. We have provided a sample phone script that you can use (and customize) to contact your senators and representatives today.

As the health care debate unfolds in the Senate, Professional Photographers of America (PPA) and its allied organizations are watching. In a letter sent to the Senate, PPA joined the Small Business Coalition for Affordable Health Care to ask for H.R. 3590 -The Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act to be made friendlier to the small business community.

The message being sent is that the combination of provisions included in the bill are not likely to provide small businesses with the long-term relief needed to ensure continuous access to quality and affordable health care.

Your Copyright & Government Affairs staff wanted to keep you updated on some of the provisions in this legislation, so that you can make informed decisions and ensure your voice is heard.

• Please read the statement, “PPA Tells Senate: Health Care Bill Not Favorable to Small Businesses” on PPA.com. You’ll find an overview and places to go to get more information and take action.
• Visit the Contact Congress page to e-mail, call or write your senator. We have provided a sample phone script that you can use (and customize).

We want to thank everyone who has already signed the letter asking President Obama and Vice President Biden to pursue the enforcement and strengthening of policies that protect your copyrights.

On November 16, the Copyright Alliance will deliver the letter with each artist's signature to the White House. To date, more than 11,000 artists have spoken up for their rights by signing the letter...and the majority are photographers like you. Have you made sure your name one of the many?

If you haven't signed the letter, visit www.copyrightalliance.org/letter today. All you need to do is scroll to the bottom to enter your name, artist type, city, state, and e-mail and hit "sign."

If you've already made your voice heard, make sure your colleagues and friends have as well--just pass along that link above. Remember to tell them to sign the letter before November 16th!