UTNE Reader/Oct. 2007 Issue -- Bodies and Souls -- ...& A Lesson in Copywrite and Negotiation

This story, in the Mindful Living section, was written about Interplay, a dance group based out of San Fransisco who equate their practice to spiritual discipline. "An American-grown alternative to yoga provides both a way for adults to play and a serious tool for personal and social change.", states Jon Spayde, the article's author.

I had the opportunity to photograph an Interplay retreat in Asheville, where this image is taken....great shoot I might add, complete with stage lighting and a little participation of my own (I attempted to dance and flow as I shot, it was completely contagious)...recently, I was contacted by the marketing cordinator who wanted me to sign a contract for UTNE magazine to release the image...as excited as I was to have the image published in a favorite mag of mine, I was perturbed that Interplay had not contacted me before sending the image out....this was my mistake..I supplied them with the images on disc (Lou Jacobs Jr. refers to this as "photo-in-hand syndrome" in his book "The Big Picture") and told them they could use the images for in-house publication, with royalty-free use, without stipulating that outside print reproduction would require extra compensation....Dohh! They told UTNE that they could use them, luckily the magazine's policies require a release signed by the photographer/copywrite holder....well, they had already ran the image....plus they credited Paul Jackson, not my artist name of Monty Tran....both constitute copywrite infringement....when I contacted UTNE they offered a fair 1/4 page rate and I gladly accepted, excited to be in their publication....but I also run a buisiness, had I been more keen to my rights and the possible consequences of their actions, I probably could have negotiated double the rate that I recieved.

Regeneration

First of all I'd like to thank everyone who came out on Veterans Day, November 11th to the LG Gallery for their support in making the first "Vietnam: more than war" exhibition such a successful event. Ticket sales were high along with calendars, t-shirts, and prints. We raised a fair amount of money for the Tran Family and the Vietnam Relief Effort, but this is still a work in progress. The t-shirts, 2007 calendars, and limited edition prints are now available on this site, get them while you can!

Some of the large format scrolls have been on display at Salsa's, downtown Asheville, check them out if you haven't already. We are currently putting together a media packet to entice other galleries across the US to host the exhibition. Also, we will be adding video from the show on our website, so check back soon!

ps - The t-shirt that i'm wearing in the photo above is from AHN OI, a great resource for Vietnam inspired clothing.