The Power of Fiduciary Funds in Bankruptcy Proceedings
As you probably know, when a company files for bankruptcy, attempts to collect outstanding amounts must be handled through the Bankruptcy Court. Any other collection efforts, including separate litigation, must cease (or technically be "stayed") pending the outcome of the bankruptcy proceeding. If you are an unsecured creditor you will usually receive far less than your claim, if you receive anything at all, and it may take years before any money is paid.
Photo researchers and photographers often bill intermediaries instead of clients directly. Such intermediaries could be advertising agencies, production companies, or even representatives or agents. On occasion the client will have paid the intermediary who then files for bankruptcy, leaving the researcher or photographer without payment and often without recourse.
I have been successful in obtaining payment of funds due in these situations by insisting, when the contract is made, that all funds due to the photoresearcher or photographer (less any commissions or other monies that would be paid to the intermediary) were never meant to belong to the intermediary and are thus to be treated as fiduciary funds, obtained solely on behalf of the researcher or photographer.
The theory behind this is that these funds do not belong, and never belonged, to the bankruptcy estate and therefore are not subject to the normal rules regarding creditors and debtors. You, of course, may have difficulty convincing the intermediary that the funds should be held in a fiduciary capacity. In that event, your paperwork should include words to such effect even if it does not actually appear in the agreement itself. Given the potential likelihood of a pending bankruptcy in any given situation and the dire consequences resulting from it, it is certainly worth the attempt to protect yourself in this regard.
Attorney Joel L. Hecker lectures and writes extensively on issues of concern to the photography industry. His office is located at Russo & Burke, 600 Third Ave, New York NY 10016. Phone: 1 212 557-9600. E-mail: Heckeresq@aol.com.
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find information about photographer finances, selling photos, stock photo agencies, royalty payments, and the photography business.
My Love Affair with Google’s AdSense Program
A few years back I was looking for ways to support the large cost of making a website available for stock photographers. Having written two books on marketing stock and producing a newsletter on the subject for more than a dozen years, I had a lot of great content to share with fellow stock photographers.
However, providing a website is one thing, and keeping it fresh and updated is another. In the process of establishing the website, expenses began to pile up, and I considered getting funds through the “donations” route. That didn’t work out, so I began looking into banner ads. But they detracted from the website content, and also, the revenues were minimal.
Before considering dropping my website entirely, I started looking into Google. Their AdSense program was just starting out. I signed up, but only a few dollars trickled in at the end of the month. Things looked bleak.
My first breakthrough came when I discovered Michael Cheney’s AdSense Program. He’s a British entrepreneur who has developed a step-by-step program that impressed me. In his program, one innovation alone showed me how I could actually spark up my Google ads with thumbnails that blended right in with the general mission of my website. It also doubled my revenue.
Cheney’s program also shows you ways of getting more traffic to your site to view your photos and in the process gets more exposure for your AdSense ads. Google’s AdSense has become the answer to getting support for my website. The support dollars are now coming in, and more than I ever expected!
If you’re looking for ways to support the ongoing cost of your website, or even to open up new profit areas for your Internet enterprises, I think you’ll find Michael Cheney’s video series beneficial. He’s created a free AdSense mini-course that people can go through to learn the four cornerstone principles that he has used successfully to build up his Google AdSense empire. –Rohn
Here’s an interview with him:
Interview with Michael Cheney from AdSense-Videos.com Q. So what made you get started with AdSense? A. I was looking for a way to monetize some of my websites. AdSense is such an easy thing to get started. I think as soon as you see the first earnings coming into your account you get addicted to AdSense. I know this is what happened to me and since back then, I’ve just spent a lot of time working out how to earn more and more money each day.
Q. How much do you make with AdSense? A. Some days I can earn close to $1000 and others it's less than that. But it all comes down to how much time and effort you devote to creating a quality site that people like visiting. AdSense is not what my business is based on by any means - but it is a great way to earn revenue almost on autopilot.
Q. What is the biggest mistake people making with AdSense? A. Probably the biggest mistake people make is thinking the AdSense earnings are easy to achieve. It is very easy to get started but as I learned it takes a lot of effort to increase your earnings. I got really downhearted whenever I would log in to my account to see that I had only made a few dollars. And that's when I decided to spend months and months of my time learning everything I could about AdSense.
I basically buried myself away and devoured every single piece of AdSense information I could find. I ran thousands of AdSense tests and started to see a dramatic effect on my click through ratio and therefore on my earnings.
This is why I'd decided to record the videos - because I knew that it would help people who were in my position to also increase their earnings. I've read an absolute ton of AdSense e-books but they take so long to go through and always seem to keep information back.
With AdSense Videos I knew that I had to tell the story exactly as it is and actually show people and lead them by the hand through the exact techniques that I use to generate large earnings from AdSense.
Q. In your videos you show people how to increase their AdSense earnings - can you give some examples of this advice? A. I don't want to give away my biggest secrets as you can understand! But some of the more basic things that you can do to increase your revenues include using ads that blend in rather than stand out from your content. Flat out, the worst thing you can do with an AdSense ad is making it look like the standard Google ad. What you need to realize is that you will get more clicks if your ad actually appears part of your site rather than something that's just been dropped into the page.
Q. What would you recommend that someone do right now to increase their AdSense earnings? A. I've created a totally free AdSense minicourse that people can go through to learn some of my techniques. It takes you through the four cornerstone principles that I've used to build up my AdSense empire.
Business
Notepad
MEETING PLACE
-- Interactive Flickr Now for everyone. Yahoo has finished a redesign of its Flickr home page that emphasizes the photo-sharing site's social aspects. The new home page shows off more of a user's own photos and more from the user's contacts, and it surfaces social activity such as comments on the user's photos, replies to comments the user made on others' photos, and new photos posted to the user's ... Full
Story
Program maintains it's easy to earn extra
funds by establishing a photo business out of your home and
photographing local businesses, corporations, churches, schools,
sports teams, and families in your community.
TAKING PICTURES FOR PROFIT
The Complete Guide to Selling Your Work by Lee Frost
Whether you take pictures on an occasional basis or as a full-time photographer, you can learn all aspects of a freelancer’s life, from record keeping to self-promotion, from finances to equipment. Explore numerous markets for selling work, including magazines, books, calendars, postcards, and picture libraries. ($17.95; 160 pages; ISBN: 0-7153-0787-8) Contact: Sterling Publishing Co, Inc, 387 Park Ave S, New York NY 10016-8810.
What you will want is a bank that charges a minimal fee to cash foreign checks. Because some publications abroad will offer you the option of payment by bank transfer, you may want to ask the charges, if any, for such operations.
When you begin selling overseas, you will want to review the check-cashing policies of your bank. In twenty years I have had eleven bank accounts in various countries and for different reasons. One reason I changed financial institutions was because the First National Bank of Tennessee insisted on charging me exaggerated rates for cashing Canadian checks. Opening an account in New York resolved this problem. I'm told this is because the state borders Canada.
Last year I received a $100 transfer from Germany, and the U.S. bank took a $25 fee. In the same respect, I transferred $12,000 from my U.S. bank account into my Italian account. On the U.S. side, a $120 fee was charged, and when the money got to Italy, another $90 was subtracted.
Bank fees are one consideration. Naturally, you want the lowest fee possible for foreign check cashing and incoming wire transfers. Another issue will be taxes on foreign-earned income.
Michael Sedge is author of THE WRITER'S AND PHOTOGRAPHER'S GUIDE TO GLOBAL MARKETS http://www.photosourcefolio.com /bookstore.htm#1581150024 and
MARKETING STRATEGIES FOR WRITERS http://www.photosourcefolio.com /bookstore.htm#1581150407
Of
Interest
Re-publication Permits Privacy Suit to Proceed
Although the language of each state statute may vary, the use of a
person’s name, portrait or picture in a photograph cannot be used for
advertising, commercial or trade purposes, without the person’s written
consent.
This is called the Right to Privacy. The time to bring a lawsuit for
invasion of the Right to Privacy is one year from the first publication
in New York and most other states, but is subject to what is called the
single publication rule. Under this rule, the statute of limitations
begins to run on the date the material at issue is first published or
used. Accordingly, subsequent distributions or uses of the images does
not constitute a separate publication or continuing wrong which would
extend to the date the initial claim accrued.
The purpose of this rule is to avoid an endless tolling of the
limitations statute. For example, a distribution of a work to a library
would be the initial date for statute of limitations purposes, and that
initial date would not be extended each time the ... Full
Story
COST OF TRAVEL OVERSEAS is always prohibitive for the stock photographer
just starting out. One way to skirt around this problem is to become a
Travel Agent.
HOW DO THEY DO IT? Yuri Arcurs - Microstock Entrepreneur - Not content with an
annual microstock income of US$1.3 million and being the top selling microstock photographer, Yuri Arcurs is creating a microstock empire. Here's a summary of his new entrepreneurial activities.
http://www.microstockdiaries.com/meet-the-new-yuri-arcurs-microstock-entrepreneur.html
WHO SAID PHOTOGRAPHERS CAN’T WRITE? History in the Buffer - David Burnett, photojournalist, wrote this piece about his experience "in the buffer" covering the election night in Chicago. A remarkable diary of his election night experience.
http://werejustsayin.blogspot.com/2008/11/history-in-buffer.html
TAKEAWAY: When TIME Magazine made “the computer” the Man of the Year, they sent David Burnett to Pine Lake Farm to photograph me and my new Radio Shack TRS-80 Model II. You can see the picture TIME used at:
http://www.photosource.com/rohntime
