Features
The Next Steps for the PLUS Coalition: Interview with President & CEO Jeff Sedlik
The PLUS Coalition has just reached another significant milestone. Having earlier accomplished the monumental task of creating a comprehensive glossary of image licensing terms (the PLUS Picture Licensing Glossary has over 1500 terms) the Coalition has now released four additional international image licensing standards which, together with the glossary, comprise the Picture Licensing Universal System or “PLUS,” a system of standards that will simplify and facilitate image licensing for image creators, distributors and users alike.The four new PLUS standards are:
- The PLUS Media Matrix: Organizes all types of media and media options into a universal set of licensing menus, to make it easier to offer, select and understand image licenses.
- The PLUS Packs: Standardized, conveniently numbered packages of commonly licensed rights that will be offered by licensors worldwide, making it easy for customers to license-by-number from any artist or stock agency.
- The PLUS-ID System: Establishes standardized ID codes for each licensing term, media type, media option, and license pack. Designed for multi-lingual use, the PLUS IDs allow media usage descriptions to be easily encoded and decoded, using a universally recognized format, to simplify the transmission of license details.
- The PLUS License Data Format: A framework for describing an image license. Combines all of the common elements of a license into a universal series of fields, with standardized names, in a standardized order. Allows machine readable licenses to be embedded in image files, making it easy for image users to manage the rights associated with licensed images.
Founded in 2004, the non-profit PLUS Coalition has repeatedly delivered on its promises, bringing a large and diverse group of stakeholders together to cooperatively develop a comprehensive system of industry standards in just two years’ time. Participants in the Coalition include publishers, designers, art buyers, photographers, illustrators, artist representatives, stock agencies and an impressive array of trade associations from around the globe. With a recent unanimous vote of approval from its multi-industry board of directors, PLUS has established the world’s first standards for the communication of license terms for stock and assignment imagery.
In light of this significant achievement, we thought we’d catch up with Jeff Sedlik, one of the founders of PLUS and its CEO, to find out how he views the organization’s next phase of development:
ATI: Most people really don’t know how much work has gone into getting PLUS where it is today. Can you give us a brief summary of what the job has involved, so far?
SEDLIK: It has been and is a tremendous undertaking, to say the least. However, when Jeffrey Burke and I co-founded the organization, we had no illusions – we knew that creating global image licensing standards would be a challenging initiative, and that we would need to overcome significant obstacles to achieve our goals. We recognized that to make it work – to achieve widespread adoption and use of the standards – the initiative could not be put forth by any one profession, industry or special interest group, and could not be operated by any one existing trade association. So we decided to create the PLUS Coalition as an umbrella organization for image licensors and licensees – a neutral, non-profit, apolitical organization in which artists, stock agencies and their customers would all have equal standing, influence and opportunity, and would work together cooperatively toward shared goals, setting all other issues aside.
We wrote a white paper, had it translated into multiple languages, opened the virtual PLUS doors, and invited everyone in the image licensing industries to participate. We had tremendous response and interest in participation from stakeholders all over the world, and received significant support and encouragement from trade associations and also from major stakeholders such as Adobe, Microsoft, Corbis, Getty Images and Jupiterimages. Once we had recruited enough participants to reach critical mass, we set about laying a foundation for the creation of the PLUS standards.
Before creating the primary PLUS standards, we had to define each word and phrase that might be used in those standards. So, the first step was to collect all of the words and phrases used in image licensing, and to categorize and define them in a free, standardized glossary, so that everyone, everywhere would have access to an industry approved, standardized definition for each term that that might appear in an image license.
We first collected glossaries and definitions from licensors and licensees all over the world. Jane Kinne made a major contribution, bringing an excellent glossary-in-progress to PLUS. Over 1000 volunteers representing all industries participated in the standards development process for the glossary, reviewing and commenting on drafts of proposed terms and definitions in a custom built, online system developed by Phil Sedgwick of LW Technologies. A team of editors (Sam Merrell, David Riecks, Greg Smith, Sharon Cohen Powers, Nancy Wolff, Niki Barrie, Ellen Boughn and others) processed the comments and revised the glossary throughout several rounds of industry review. Then after passing through a final review by a multi-industry working group, the PLUS Universal Picture Licensing Glossary was approved by the board, and published on schedule, in October, 2005. The PLUS Glossary is available as a free online resource After receiving hundreds of requests for a printed version, we’ve recently published a printed desktop edition (produced by Sharon Cohen Powers and designed by Joseph Gilbert), available for purchase on the PLUS site at nominal cost, with the proceeds used to fund the development of the PLUS standards.
The publication of the glossary received significant attention in the industry -- so much so that many people now mistakenly believe that PLUS is just a glossary project. Actually, the process of establishing standardized definitions was just the first step in building the comprehensive system of images licensing standards and tools that together form the PLUS system.
With the glossary in place, we set a very ambitious goal: to publish the remaining PLUS standards within one year. Each of the remaining standards was somewhat more technical than the Glossary.
The PLUS Media Matrix was by far the most complex element produced thus far. The Matrix is a universal database of different types of media and media options. Stock agencies and others use matrices to populate their drop down licensing menus. The Matrix creates a single standard for the terminology used those menus, for use in assignment and stock licensing.
To create the PLUS matrix, we invited all stakeholders to submit their licensing matrices. Then we merged all of the matrices, and created a standardized hierarchy, designing and applying a system of Matrix-ID codes to all of the values in the Matrix. This involved many months and literally thousands of hours of work by our Matrix editors, first by Don Resnick of 20/20 Software and by the Managing Matrix Editor and creator of the Matrix ID system, Randy Taylor of StockPhotoFinder.
With a draft of the Matrix in place, we then created the PLUS Packs based on input from artists, stock agencies, and customers, identifying the most commonly licensed usages, and bundling them in convenient license packages. The managing editor for the PLUS Packs was Betsy Reid of SAA.
The License Data Format, designed to allow image license metadata to be embedded in digital image files, required substantial engineering work. The LDF is a comprehensive list of fields, from which image licensors may select the fields most appropriate for their particular licensing workflow.
For each of these standards, PLUS conducted many months of intensive industry standards review, again involving more than 1000 volunteers, this time in an online standards review system created for PLUS by ImageSpan. After three successive drafts of each standard, the standards were presented to the PLUS board, and unanimously approved on November 1, 2006.
ATI: Now that you have established the PLUS Standards, how will PLUS disseminate these tools and ensure their adoption by a critical mass of colleagues in the image licensing industry?
SEDLIK: Immediately after the recent completion and approval of the standards, we set about creating documentation and instructions for the use of the standards, and will continue to upload them to the “useplus” section of the PLUS website throughout the coming weeks. We’ve recently added the PLUS Media Selector to the site, as a demonstration of the PLUS Media Matrix menus and the PLUS ID system. I encourage your readers to try the demo and learn about the PLUS Media Matrix.
With the standards in place, we are now working with a number of hardware and software developers to incorporate PLUS in applications used for capture, viewing, editing, licensing and managing images. As integration in third party applications involves a programming and testing process lasting many months, PLUS is working with PLUS members and supporters such as Adobe, ImageSpan, and Poundhill Software to create a number of image licensing tools, including plugins, custom panels, and mini-applications. We will distribute free PLUS License Readers, which will allow image users to easily read PLUS licenses embedded in digital image files. And, we will provide web based tools for use by all. PACA, the stock industry trade association, has been particularly supportive and active in PLUS, and has worked closely with PLUS on standardizing photography metadata.
ATI: How have foreign organizations received PLUS so far, and where do plans stand for translation into other languages?
SEDLIK: We are fortunate to have very significant participation from trade associations and other companies worldwide. PLUS was founded as an international Coalition for all stakeholders in the image licensing industries, regardless of location. So, within PLUS, no participant is foreign. Though the PLUS Coalition filed its non-profit incorporation paperwork in the U.S. and has tremendous support and participation from trade associations and other companies based in the America, there are now more stakeholders represented by organizations based outside the U.S. than within it. That is no accident – before founding the organization, we published our first white paper in five languages, and we were very proactive in inviting organizations in all countries to participate. The fundamental purpose of the PLUS system is to allow licensors and licensees to leverage available technologies to succeed in an increasingly global marketplace. To succeed, the Coalition must continue to have widespread global participation.
Creating image licensing standards from scratch in any one language is extremely challenging. Creating such standards in multiple languages simultaneously would be highly impractical, if not impossible. For this reason, the members of the Coalition from all countries decided to work together to create the PLUS standards first in English, and then to establish regional “working groups” in each country, charged with reviewing the standards and making recommendations and translations intended to ensure that the PLUS standards will improve the image licensing workflow of all professionals in all countries. We recently activated PLUS-UK, with founding UK PLUS members BAPLA, AOP, AOI, EPUK, NUJ, PRA, VCI, Pyramide, and UK representatives of SAA. These are each very proactive and successful organizations, and will now set about recruiting additional organizations until the working group achieves a balance of representation for licensors and licensees, echoing the structure of the PLUS Board and their entire Coalition. We hope to activate working groups for our many members in Japan, France, Australia, Canada, Germany and other countries in the near future. It is up to the participants in each country to step forward and take action. We welcome inquiries from any professional or organization interested in founding a PLUS regional working group in any country.
ATI: Once PLUS has completed its development phase and has established accepted industry standards both in name and in practice, what role do you see the PLUS organization playing in the long-term?
SEDLIK: The PLUS Coalition not only develops standards, but also develops systems to facilitate the use of the standards. With the standards in place and approved by all industries, we are now building those supporting systems, including web and desktop applications and a system of registries for use by licensors and licensees. In addition, we are now working to propagate the standards, encouraging adoption by stakeholders and integration in third party applications used by licensee and licensors.
We are also in the process of assembling an education committee, and will be developing and distributing coursepacks and other publications designed to ensure that emerging professionals in the photography, illustration, design, advertising and publishing industries have a solid understanding the PLUS image licensing standards upon entering the their respective industries.
Lastly, the Coalition is the keeper of the standards. This comes with a responsibility to ensure that the standards keep pace with a continuously evolving marketplace. The Coalition will update its standards every two years, by process of open industry review, continuing indefinitely. As a result, at any one time, PLUS will have at least one standard under review. For example, in the one year period after the publication of the PLUS Glossary, we have received requests for inclusion of over 500 new licensing terms.
The approval of the first version of the PLUS standards was no small achievement, but was just the beginning. PLUS Coalition will work continuously towards its goals.
ATI: Do you see yourself involved with the management of PLUS for the long term, or will you leave the running of it to a successor once it’s “on its feet,” so to speak?
SEDLIK: I strongly believe that the success of the PLUS standards is essential to the evolution of image licensing. I am committed to continuing to manage the propagation of the standards and the continued growth and success of the organization. In the event that the PLUS Board decides to bring in a new CEO at some point, I will transition back to my original role as a voting Board member, and will continue to participate in a leadership role in the organization.
ATI: Does the PLUS system include, or have you considered including, a solution for tracking usage of so-called “Orphan Works?”
The membership of the PLUS Coalition is highly diverse. Some of the participants in the Coalition view orphan works legislation as a threat, while others strongly support the legislation. As a result, PLUS is neutral on orphan works legislation. Instead of supporting or opposing the legislation, the Coalition has developed standards and supporting systems that when used, will prevent any work from becoming “orphaned.” The PLUS standards allow license information to travel within digital image files in a standardized, machine readable format, allowing anyone, anywhere to instantly determine not just the licensor and copyright owner information, but a description of the license associated with that image. In addition, PLUS is developing a system of centralized registries designed to help potential image licensees locate and contact licensors and copyright owners. PLUS is the solution to the challenge of Orphan Works, serving the interests of everyone, on all sides of the issue.
Jeff Sedlik is an advertising photographer, having worked out of studios in Los Angeles and New York City for more than 20 years. Sedlik also owns a fine art publishing business, and is a professor at the Art Center College of Design, where he teaches courses on technical, business and legal issues. An expert in copyright licensing issues, Sedlik has worked frequently as a consultant to companies in the photography and software industries, and has served as an expert witness in matters related to copyright and business practices. Sedlik received the Industry Leadership Award in 2005 from the International Photography Council in 2005, and was the named the 2006 Photography Person of the Year by PhotoMedia. After serving as the National President of the Advertising Photographers of America, Sedlik co-founded the PLUS Coalition, and has served as that organization’s President & CEO since 2004.
Posted in: Features, Interviews, Photographers, PLUS Coalition, Stock Photo Companies
