Photos talk

THE NUJ, with the British Association of Photo Libraries and Agencies, the Association of Photographers and representatives of the Editorial Photo UK email list, has entered into talks with Corbis over photographers' rights. Corbis, owned by Bill Gates personally, is locked in a battle with the Getty Archive for control of the world's picture agencies and libraries.

Corbis has already backed down on the contract it "offered" to photographers represented by the Paris agency Sygma shortly after buying it. When it bought the New York agency SABA, photographers there immediately started asking whether they'd be subjected to the Sygma terms (see last issue).

The hope is, of course, that the talks will lead to amicable agreement on a model contract for freelance photographers. In the meantime, it is important not to sign away your rights!

For more information, photographers should join the EPUK email list: see www.epuk.org.