North American Nature Photography Association

Last updated
North American Nature Photography Association
NANPA (1994-present)
Founded1994
United States
Headquarters Illinois, United States
Website www.nanpa.org

The North American Nature Photography Association or NANPA is an organization dedicated to photography of nature. The association's headquarters were originally in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, and now are in Alma, Illinois. Established in 1994, NANPA joined forces with ASMP (American Society of Media Photographers) at the end of 2022. Together, the two organizations have about 6,500 members in North America and internationally. Several categories of membership are available, including discounts for students. The association annually sponsors a variety of activities. Among them are regional events, nature photo competitions, and webinars throughout the United States. NANPA sponsored a Nature Photography Celebration in 2018 (Jackson, Wyoming). The NANPA Foundation, established in 1997, funds scholarships, photo blinds for wildlife photography, and grants for conservation photography projects, and to photography students. NANPA also markets books of interest to members, including those by members, through Amazon.com.

Contents

NANPA's Summits, begun in 1995, bring together nature photography professionals from throughout the continent and internationally. Recent Summits were held in Jacksonville, Florida (2013 and 2017); San Diego, California (2015); and Las Vegas, Nevada (2019). The 2021 and 2022 Summits were conducted virtually. Then in 2023, the Summit was held in Tucson, Arizona; it is scheduled to return to that city in 2025. Each Summit features major presentations by distinguished people in the nature photography profession, an awards celebration, a trade show, portfolio reviews, workshops (breakout sessions), and vendor demonstrations. Lightning talks are featured at some Summits: a series of six-minute presentations by NANPA members on techniques, anecdotes, and related information.

In 2006, NANPA initiated June 15 as Nature Photography Day. This designated day was spearheaded by the association's History Committee. Its purpose is to promote the art and science of nature photography. NANPA looks to esthetic elements and practical ones, too. Photography has been used to rescue animals, plants, and habitats locally and worldwide. Participation in Nature Photography Day has since extended globally. June 15 is a day for exploring, with a camera, the natural world within walking, hiking, biking, or rowing distance. Settings could be close by, for safety of participants and to avoid leaving a carbon footprint. Among the numerous ways to celebrate the day is to experiment with taking photographs of a familiar subject, turning the ordinary into something extraordinary. Another is to find something that detracts from nature, showing images about how human beings sometimes adversely affect the environment. NANPA also encourages people of all ages to learn about the experiences of nature photographers—legends of the past and today.

Advocacy

In August 2019, the National Press Photographers Association and the American Society of Media Photographers filed an amicus brief in support of Jim Olive in University of Houston System vs. Jim Olive Photography, D/B/A Photolive, Inc. The brief was joined by the North American Nature Photography Association, Graphic Artists Guild, American Photographic Artists, and Professional Photographers of America. "The case began when Texas photographer Jim Olive discovered that the University of Houston was using one of his aerial photographs for marketing purposes without permission. When Olive asked the University to pay for the use, they refused and told him they were shielded from suit because of sovereign immunity, which protects state government entities from many lawsuits." [1] After a negative ruling from a Texas appellate court Olive hopes to continue his fight. [2] [3] [4]

In 2019, the Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari in Allen v. Cooper, raising the question of whether Congress validly abrogated state sovereign immunity via the Copyright Remedy Clarification Act in providing remedies for authors of original expression whose federal copyrights are infringed by states. [5] [6] [7] [8] Thirteen amici including; the United States Chamber of Commerce, the Recording Industry Association of America, the Copyright Alliance, the Software and Information Industry Association, the North American Nature Photography Association and the National Press Photographers Association, filed briefs in support of Allen. [9] [10] [11] Those briefs proposed various doctrines under which the CRCA could validly abrogate sovereign immunity and variously re-asserted and supported the reasons why Congress examined and enacted CRCA, claiming that Congress was fair in finding that states had abused immunity and that an alternative remedy was needed. [12]

On March 23, 2020, the Supreme Court struck down the CRCA as unconstitutional, holding that Congress had no Constitutional authority to abrogate state sovereign immunity via the Copyright Remedy Clarification Act. Congress failed to provide evidence to support the need to abrogate sovereign immunity.

Related Research Articles

Sovereign immunity, or crown immunity, is a legal doctrine whereby a sovereign or state cannot commit a legal wrong and is immune from civil suit or criminal prosecution, strictly speaking in modern texts in its own courts. State immunity is a similar, stronger doctrine, that applies to foreign courts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution</span> 1795 amendment restricting ability to sue states in federal courts

The Eleventh Amendment is an amendment to the United States Constitution which was passed by Congress on March 4, 1794, and ratified by the states on February 7, 1795. The Eleventh Amendment restricts the ability of individuals to bring suit against states of which they are not citizens in federal court.

Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida, 517 U.S. 44 (1996), was a United States Supreme Court case which held that Article One of the U.S. Constitution did not give the United States Congress the power to abrogate the sovereign immunity of the states that is further protected under the Eleventh Amendment. Such abrogation is permitted where it is necessary to enforce the rights of citizens guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment as per Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer. The case also held that the doctrine of Ex parte Young, which allows state officials to be sued in their official capacity for prospective injunctive relief, was inapplicable under these circumstances, because any remedy was limited to the one that Congress had provided.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Software and Information Industry Association</span> Trade association

The Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) is a trade association dedicated to the entertainment, consumer and business software industries. Established in 1984 as the Software Publishers Association (SPA), the SIIA took its new name when it merged with the related Information Industry Association on January 1, 1999. The joint enterprise was headed by Software Publishers Association founder Ken Wasch and operated out of the SPA's existing offices.

The American Society of Media Photographers, abbreviated ASMP, is a professional association of imaging professionals, including photojournalists, architectural, underwater, food/culinary and advertising photographers as well as video/film makers and other specialists. Its members are primarily those who create images for publications, though many cross over into wedding and portrait photography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Professional Photographers of America</span> Photographic organization

Professional Photographers of America (PPA) is a nonprofit trade association of professional photographers. As of August 2022, PPA has 35,000 members.

Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibbs, 538 U.S. 721 (2003), was a United States Supreme Court case which held that the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 was "narrowly targeted" at "sex-based overgeneralization" and was thus a "valid exercise of [congressional] power under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Press Photographers Association</span>

The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) is an American professional association made up of still photographers, television videographers, editors, and students in the journalism field. Founded in 1946, the organization is based in at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. The NPPA places emphasis on photojournalism, or journalism that presents a story through the use of photographs or moving pictures. The NPPA holds annual competitions as well as several quarterly contests, seminars, and workshops designed to stimulate personal growth in its members. It utilizes a mentor program which offers its members the opportunity to establish a relationship with a veteran NPPA member and learn from them. The organization also offers a critique service, a job bank, an online discussion board, and various member benefits.

Architectural photography is the subgenre of the photography discipline where the primary emphasis is made to capturing photographs of buildings and similar architectural structures that are both aesthetically pleasing and accurate in terms of representations of their subjects. Architectural photographers are usually skilled in the use of specialized techniques and cameras for producing such specialized photography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Photography and the law</span> Legal status of photography, including intellectual property and privacy laws

The intellectual property rights on photographs are protected in different jurisdictions by the laws governing copyright and moral rights. In some cases photography may be restricted by civil or criminal law. Publishing certain photographs can be restricted by privacy or other laws. Photography can be generally restricted in the interests of public morality and the protection of children.

The copyright law of the United States grants monopoly protection for "original works of authorship". With the stated purpose to promote art and culture, copyright law assigns a set of exclusive rights to authors: to make and sell copies of their works, to create derivative works, and to perform or display their works publicly. These exclusive rights are subject to a time and generally expire 70 years after the author's death or 95 years after publication. In the United States, works published before January 1, 1929, are in the public domain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sovereign immunity in the United States</span> Legal protection of federal, state and tribal governments

In United States law, the federal government as well as state and tribal governments generally enjoy sovereign immunity, also known as governmental immunity, from lawsuits. Local governments in most jurisdictions enjoy immunity from some forms of suit, particularly in tort. The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act provides foreign governments, including state-owned companies, with a related form of immunity—state immunity—that shields them from lawsuits except in relation to certain actions relating to commercial activity in the United States. The principle of sovereign immunity in US law was inherited from the English common law legal maxim rex non potest peccare, meaning "the king can do no wrong." In some situations, sovereign immunity may be waived by law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralph Oman</span> American lawyer (born 1940)

Ralph Oman is an American lawyer and former Register of Copyrights. He is currently the Pravel, Hewitt, Kimball and Kreiger Professorial Lecturer in Intellectual Property and Patent Law at The George Washington University Law School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graphic Artists Guild</span>

The Graphic Artists Guild is a guild of graphic designers, illustrators, and photographers and is organized into seven chapters around the United States. It is a member of the international organization Icograda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Theiss</span> American storm chaser (born 1978)

Mike Theiss is a National Geographic photographer, on air talent, video producer, professional storm chaser. He is the CEO/Founder of Ultimate Chase Inc. that specializes in extreme nature photography. His work has been published in National Geographic magazine numerous times for displaying hurricanes, tornadoes, lightning, volcanoes, and other rare nature events.

The Copyright Alliance is a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(4) organization representing artistic creators across a broad range of copyright disciplines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copyright Remedy Clarification Act</span> United States copyright law

The Copyright Remedy Clarification Act (CRCA) is a United States copyright law that attempted to abrogate sovereign immunity of states for copyright infringement. The CRCA amended 17 USC 511(a):

In general. Any State, any instrumentality of a State, and any officer or employee of a State or instrumentality of a State acting in his or her official capacity, shall not be immune, under the Eleventh Amendment of the Constitution of the United States or under any other doctrine of sovereign immunity, from suit in Federal Court by any person, including any governmental or nongovernmental entity, for a violation of any of the exclusive rights of a copyright owner provided by sections 106 through 122, for importing copies of phonorecords in violation of section 602, or for any other violation under this title.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nautilus Productions</span> American video production, stock footage, and photography company

Nautilus Productions LLC is an American video production, stock footage, and photography company incorporated in Fayetteville, North Carolina in 1997. The principals are producer/director Rick Allen and photographer Cindy Burnham. Nautilus specializes in documentary production and underwater videography, and produced QAR DiveLive, a live webcast of underwater archaeology filmed at the wreck of the Queen Anne's Revenge in 2000 and 2001.

Charles "Flip" Nicklin is a nature photographer best known for his underwater photographs of whales. He has been called "one of the world's leading whale photographers."

On August 18, 2015, then North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory (R) signed "Blackbeard's Law," N.C. General Statute §121-25(b), into law. The statute stated that, "All photographs, video recordings, or other documentary materials of a derelict vessel or shipwreck or its contents, relics, artifacts, or historic materials in the custody of any agency of the North Carolina government or its subdivisions shall be a public record pursuant to G.S. 132-1. There shall be no limitation on the use of or no requirement to alter any such photograph, video recordings, or other documentary material, and any such provision in any agreement, permit, or license shall be void and unenforceable as a matter of public policy." The statute was inserted into another bill by Representatives Norman Sanderson and Jim Davis at the request of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (NCDNCR). One year later, the North Carolina Legislature amended the statute to read, "All photographs, video recordings, or other documentary materials of a derelict vessel or shipwreck or its contents, relics, artifacts, or historic materials in the custody of any agency of North Carolina government or its subdivisions shall be a public record pursuant to Chapter 132 of the General Statutes." The moniker "Blackbeard's Law" refers to the pirate Blackbeard and was first penned by reporter Paul Woolverton of the Fayetteville Observer.

References

  1. Mickey Osterreicher, Alicia Calzada. "Texas Appellate Court holds that government piracy of copyrighted work is not a takings". NPPA. National Press Photographers Association. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  2. "University of Houston System v. Jim Olive Photography". Copyright Alliance. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  3. Edwards, Jenny (18 June 2019). "Fstoppers Interviews Jim Olive, the Texas Photographer Whose Copyrighted Image was Stolen by the University of Houston". Fstoppers. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  4. Sixel, L.M. (14 June 2019). "Texas court says photographer has no recourse against university copyright infringement". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  5. "Allen v. Cooper".
  6. "No. 18-877". Supreme Court of the United States. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  7. Liptak, Adam (2 September 2019). "Blackbeard's Ship Heads to Supreme Court in a Battle Over Another Sort of Piracy". New York Times. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  8. Gardner, Eriq (5 November 2019). "Supreme Court Wrestles With Consequences for Piracy by State Governments". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  9. "Allen v. Cooper". Copyright Alliance. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  10. "NPPA, ASMP asks SCOTUS for protection of copyright infringement by states". NPPA. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  11. "Allen v. Cooper". U.S. Chamber Litigation Center. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  12. Kass, Dani. "Copyright Cavalry Supports Pirate Ship Photog At High Court". Constitutional Accountability Center. Retrieved 17 November 2019.