BAPLA FOCUS 2017 Highlights

Nearly one hundred picture agency people, media buyers and industry suppliers attended the fifth annual BAPLA FOCUS conference on 26 September 2017 at the Museum of London.

The stylish concrete and muted-colour interiors at our new venue suited BAPLA well; purposeful discussion in the conference room was complemented by relaxed intermingling in the garden and refreshment areas.

Our stand-out speaker was David Slater.

His ‘monkey selfie’ image is famous around the world, as is his recently settled copyright battle with PETA.

Much newer to the audience was the lifetime of passion and experience that lies behind the shoot where he coaxed a monkey into using a remote control to create a memorable image.

Alongside established industry experts including Anna Skurczynska (Open Plan Law), Eddy Leviten (Alliance for IP), Steve Hercher (360Cities), Giancarlo Zucotto (Science Photo Library), Guy Thorneloe (Getty Images)and Sonia Bouadma (GreenLight), the audience heard from names to watch for the future: Masha McConaghy (BigchainDB), Olga Egorsheva (Lobster.Media), Benji Lanyado (Picfair),Rachael Kennedy (Storyful) and Alastair Reid (Press Association).

A range of industry experts offered a host of insights, including:

  • Demystifying virtual reality as a content type and a market
  • Radically different approaches to simplifying rights for picture users
  • Lobbying opportunities, copyright issues and likely business scenarios during Brexit
  • The dangers when image users don’t consider third party rights
  • Using blockchain, tracking technologies and image distribution to track rights and usage online
  • How journalists verify sources and accuracy of social media content in the age of ‘fake news’

You can download the programme here.

You can download speaker’s biographies here.

Feedback from attendees included:

“A really useful day for us.”

“I like the way that topics are built on year by year, I'll definitely be back next year.”

“It's very useful to hear about general trends in the photo industry, new technology and to have a chance for libraries and customers to interact.”

Many thanks to our sponsors

Picture credit: Simplifying Rights - BAPLA FOCUS 2017 ©BAPLA