PLUS - Picture Licensing Universal System

The following paragraph was taken word for word from the "PLUS" site. I have posted this because I believe that new technology is helping and hurting our industry in ways that many (or at least me) of us cannot understand. For instance, while the stock industry may not be dead it is certainly not the thriving (for photographers) money maker that it was just a few years ago. Work that is comparable to what I would not have licensed for less than $300 is now being posted for penny's on the dollar. This has been brought about by a technology we must not denigrate. Instead we must learn from it, and reach for higher standards from ourselves. And, maybe this group can help save the rest of the industry from the same fate.

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The PLUS Coalition is an international non-profit initiative on a mission to simplify and facilitate the communication and management of image rights. Organized by respected associations, leading companies, standards bodies, scholars and industry experts, the PLUS Coalition exists for the benefit of all communities involved in creating, distributing, using and preserving images. Spanning more than thirty countries, these diverse stakeholders have collaborated to develop PLUS, a system of standards that makes it easier to communicate, understand and manage image rights in all countries.

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Featured members of “PLUS” include: ASMP, Adobe Systems Inc., Adbase, Pentagram, and Digimarc. And, there are a number of handy tips and gadgets on the page to help photographers run their businesses.