Do You Know Where Your Photos Are?

Imagine you're sitting at home watching a football game on television and then, as the game heads into commercial break, you see a pooch that looks very familiar. I mean very familiar. As in, you could look down and see him chewing your shoes at that very moment familiar.

Apparently, that's what happened to Tracey Gaughran-Perez, who contends that a picture of her pug Truman, appropriately outfitted for the holiday season, wound up on an NFL telecast on Fox.

The Washington Post picked up the story this past Wednesday, and with it, gave us a few more examples of folks whose personal photos allegedly ended up in commercial enterprises without their permission: a Texas teen who found herself starring in an ad campaign, a Web designer whose photo made its way to a television skit, a stay-at-home dad who shot of his daughter ended up in an online magazine.

In all cases, the photographers say their images were used without their permission, or were used in ways that violated the license they assigned the work. In turn, the companies implicated have either removed the offending photos, negotiated payment for their use, or lawyered-up. One of the cases cited is still pending in the courts.

When I read stories like this, I process them on two levels -- the personal and the professional.

Personally, I wonder if this could happen to me. Not likely, I think. What are the odds? But then, of course, I'm sure those whose photos were used would have said the same thing just a year ago. Statistics provide comfort only until you're the one in the proverbial million. Best to review the rights associated with photo-sharing sites before uploading my pics.

Professionally, I start regaling those around me about copyright and fair use and public domain. Fortunately, as a librarian I know there are places to go to learn about what's what with intellectual property and copyright. Among the best are:

• The U.S. Copyright Office, including their very helpful batch of frequently asked questions (among them "How do I protect my sighting of Elvis?")
• The Copyright Primer from the University of Maryland University College, an interactive tutorial complete with scenario-based quiz questions (Who doesn't like a quiz?)
• The Creative Commons, a non-profit copyright licensing organization seeking to establish some reasonable middle ground between full copyright and public domain
• The American Library Association and the Association of Research Libraries for the librarians' angle on things

But if all you're looking for are fresh images for your blog or photos to support your science project, don't go off and steal from Flickr. Instead, check out the image galleries available from Uncle Sam, or, for ag-specific images, those NAL has pulled together.

"Copyright protection...is not available for any work of the United States Government," (17 USC § 105), so most of the photos you'll find through those links are in the public domain and may be freely used. However, since some of those images might still be protected by license, please do your part and thoroughly read the disclaimers on each site before use. We'd hate to see you featured in a follow-up story in the Post, or worse, this blog. I don't think I could resist saying, "I told you so."

Posted by Mary Ann Leonard

Added to Copyright and Photos on January 11, 2008 EST | Permalink

Share your comments

Lively discussions and different opinions are encouraged within the bounds of respectful civil discourse. Questionable language, personal attacks, off-topic comments, and gratuitous links will either be edited or deleted. Comments are moderated and will not appear on InfoFarm until they have been approved.

Name:

.....

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)

This blog does not represent official communications from the National Agricultural Library, the Agricultural Research Service or the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Winter Gives Way to Spring...Already?

I'm in agreement with the folks over at GovGab -- winter is a great time to visit a botanical garden.

Here in DC, the U.S. Botanic Garden displays a vivid pallet of greens year-round, and the sun streaming through the glass walls of the Conservatory dispel any thoughts of winter, at least for a time. It's one of my favorite cold-weather escapes.

This month, however, the Botanic Garden has something for those of you who appreciate the diminished light and cold days this time of year. Their current exhibit "Glorious Winter" includes a variety of landscapes that capture the beauty of barren trees and snow-covered fields. Even the gardens pictured, mere stick figures in comparison to the lushness they'll show come spring, are striking, grounding us in the season while evoking thoughts of what's to come.

The Washington Post's garden editor, Adrian Higgins, offered an eloquent review of the exhibit last week, complete with a video interview with Roger Foley, one of the photographers featured.

If you can't get to the Botanic Garden before the exhibit ends January 27, check out a sample of Foley's winter scenes on his Web site. Barbara Southworth, another local photographer, is also a part of the exhibit.

Across town, the U.S. National Arboretum is showing winter landscapes of a different sort, namely, viewing stones that evoke the season. These naturally occurring stones, selected for the way they suggest to the viewer scenes of winter, are joined in the exhibit by pine, bamboo, and plum species, the so-called three "Friends of Winter."

Or be a part of the winter landscape by walking the grounds of the National Arboretum, either on your own or as part of their full moon hikes. (The latter requires registration.)

For other great outdoor activities, review the resources the Rural Information Center has pulled together on winter in rural America. They include a great link on winter recreation and another conveying the challenges of ranching during this season's short days and temperamental weather.

Of course, if winter's just a speedbump on your way to warmer weather, then put this time to use by planning your garden or seeking inspiration at your local botanical garden or arboretum. Nothing gets you through the coldest days like a seed catalog and visions of this year's masterpiece

Unless, of course, it's the Botanic Garden's annual orchid show, which opens February 2. Mark your calendars so you don't miss it.

Posted by Mary Ann Leonard

Added to Photos and Plants and Crops on January 08, 2008 EST | Permalink

Share your comments

Lively discussions and different opinions are encouraged within the bounds of respectful civil discourse. Questionable language, personal attacks, off-topic comments, and gratuitous links will either be edited or deleted. Comments are moderated and will not appear on InfoFarm until they have been approved.

Name:

.....

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)

This blog does not represent official communications from the National Agricultural Library, the Agricultural Research Service or the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Where Does Your Food Come From?

When was the last time you really thought about where your food comes from?

Okay, maybe last week's beef recall gave you pause, or the E. coli outbreak in spinach last year pushed you toward kale instead. Or maybe your answer to the question extends only as far as deciding which take-out place to hit on your way home tonight.

I'm with you.

Many of us have the luxury of taking food, and by extension, agriculture, for granted, but then something happens to remind us of this most essential part of our lives.

I had a big shift in thinking when I started working for USDA four years ago. That prompted a small but permanent push toward awareness. But I still get the little nudges as well.

This week it came artfully in the form of a photo exhibit at the University of Maryland titled Georgic Odyssey: Where Your Food Comes From. (“Georgic” is a great GRE word, by the way. Look it up.)

Edwin Remsberg, the exhibit's award-winning photographer, lives on a Maryland sheep farm, but he also takes photos for the USDA and the University of Maryland Cooperative Extension.

Remsberg's images smoothly lure you in and get you thinking about the work, the sacrifice and the beauty that happens daily on farms across America. The exhibit description calls it “a behind-the-scenes view of where our food comes from,” and it goes on to say, “if ‘you are what you eat,’ then this is about who we are.”

I couldn't agree more.

Take a few minutes and browse these images yourself. You can see a sampling on the Union Gallery Web site at the University of Maryland or scroll through all 54 images that comprise the exhibit on Edwin Remsberg's site. And if you're lucky enough to live in the Washington, DC-area, you can catch any of the handful of panel discussions the gallery is hosting in conjunction with the exhibit. Then come back and tell us what you thought. Which image was your favorite? What did the exhibit evoke for you?

And let us know how you stay attuned to what it takes to bring food to your grocery store shelves. We can all use a little help being more aware.

Posted by Mary Ann Leonard

Added to Food and Nutrition and Photos on October 02, 2007 EST | Permalink

Share your comments

Lively discussions and different opinions are encouraged within the bounds of respectful civil discourse. Questionable language, personal attacks, off-topic comments, and gratuitous links will either be edited or deleted. Comments are moderated and will not appear on InfoFarm until they have been approved.

I've lived in Maryland for four years, since coming to the DC Metro area. To a large extent I know where my food comes from because my husband and I garden, and I can the results. Also my sister is still on the family farm and we (often) buy a quarter beef from her herd. Unfortunately, other things I eat I know too much about ... where they come from and what's been done to get them to the market place. I have worked in environmental and human health risk assessment and groundwater protection. It's not a pretty picture sometimes what happens as a result of intensive food production and processing.

Submitted by: Sally Benjamin on October 3, 2007 05:53 PM

Submitted by: Leah on October 26, 2007 12:08 PM

Submitted by: Trailboss49 on October 26, 2007 02:28 PM