Big Picture Research

Wahoo! Very pleased to have completed my Certificate in Canadian Copyright Law. While my day-to-day work in the field has provided a solid background, it is great to add some official education under my belt. Thank you Lesley Ellen Harris and Erin Gurski for the past few months of leadership and mentoring. I highly recommend any of Lesley's courses at www.copyrightlaws.com

Congratulations Ron Chapman and team. Was glad to be an Archival Researcher on this project!

Came across this today... reminiscent of the times we're in!

Ah, the Bettman Archive! How we miss easy access to you.

Honoured to be named President of the Visual Researchers’ Association of Canada (VRSC/ARAC) this past week. I look forward to leading this professional group of researchers and archival producers as we approach the 15 year anniversary. Congratulations to the group for navigating its first ever AGM virtually! It was great to see so many faces. Hoping we can do it in person next year in Quebec City. I want to extend a heartfelt Thank You to Elspeth Domville and Nancy Marcotte our outgoing President and Vice President. These ladies have served in their roles together for 5 years and even longer on the BOD and committees! So these are big shoes to fill. Thank you so much for all your hard work. http://visualresearch.ca

As a Visual Researcher, the current global situation has resulted in some interesting video; images we will undoubtedly remember for some time. Here's an idle Pearson Airport...

Just sharing details of this documentary series I worked on. Premiered last night on Discovery Canada

A great evening at the Canadian Consulate party at Film Gate Miami. Thank you so much for the support and screening of our Hilarious House of Frightenstein sizzle. Such incredible and positive reactions to our project. #CMF #Kidscreen2020 #YMA

Found this definition of my job today... While not wrong, perhaps it's time to help update the Wiki.

I am thrilled today to have met colleagues at the Vanderbilt Television News Archive in Nashville. So great to put faces to the names of people I speak with regularly and to see the archive operation itself. I even learned a new research trick - classic Interface! Thanks for that.

Wow! A Digital Legacy lesson... for both managers and users of cryptocurrency.

According to MTO, Highway 26 Owen Sound to Meaford is now fully closed due to weather conditions.

Thanks to my friend Elizabeth Klinck for sharing this note about changes to flickr. Will have to watch and see how this plays out for many archives and libraries that have used flickr to host many collections of free PD material..

Need some trivia help here... Was reviewing and old US army film today and couldn't help notice - the man who plays the polygraph interviewer @06:56... I am sure he's a soap star. Dr. Bob something... from either General Hospital or Y&R. Have been through imdb.com and can't place it. Please help - it's driving me nuts!

This is why media producers and their respective teams need to understand how royalty free stock footage works. Images online are not always free and straightforward as they seem. RF sites are, in part, populated by the average person who doesn't know better about rights. Please be careful when sourcing images for your projects - and ask a Visual Researcher to investigate.

So proud of my friend and Visual Research mentor Elizabeth Klinck. She is being recognized this year by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.

Floating Giants: The Barry Prentice Story - is now available on Vimeo and Amazon Prime. This is an independent doc film that I had the pleasure of working on. Here's the trailer... https://vimeo.com/ondemand/floatinggiants https://www.amazon.com/Floating-Giants-Barr//ref=sr_1_807

I am into Year 4 now freelancing and a lot of this article is quite true. I now have steady clients and choice of work, but am still looking to find the local connection.

Felt so good to work at a real Archive today! Electronic research is great but digging through fonds with the possibility of unearthing a hidden treasure and actually touching an old image is so energizing! Should remind myself to do it more often!

Will have to read more on this. Canada has been one of the last hold-outs on the term length of copyright. But truly for a lot of media projects in Canada, I’ve had to clear for the US market rules in mind anyway. I have always had the 70 or 75 years in mind when considering archival material and it’s status as public domain.

Blue Mountains - All Candidates Meeting tomorrow night hosted by Blue Mountains Chamber of Commerce. 5pm - Marsh Street Centre. If you can't attend - it will be Webcast here...

I am most interested to see how any automatic filtering works at all. It hasn’t been all that successful with YouTube.

Yesterday, I turned down my first contract offer ever - as a freelancer. It was a difficult decision based solely on tough contractual language; likely an old boiler plate agreement that no one has proofed or updated in a very long time. In my opinion it was poorly written and fraught with inconsistencies. It also contained one of the strongest worded clauses surrounding liability and indemnification that I’ve ever come across. As a Visual Researcher, I’ve read a lot of li...censes over 25 years and I knew this document was just a starting point for conversation. Most legal teams expect these agreements will be sent back several times over, asking for changes. In my case, many amendments were taken into consideration and I was hopeful it would work out. It did not and I began to wonder what other difficulties I would encounter down the road with this project. My decision to step away is not taken lightly. I’m out a day-and-a-half of work completed in good faith, the fee for a legal opinion and possibly the respect of a long-time colleague who offered me the opportunity. But I stand by my decision. I’m sharing this news because it would seem a lot of people in the media industry feel they have no choice but to sign these heavy-handed documents or pass up the work? This is not true! You can always question what is written in a contract. Ask for amendments. Seek a legal opinion. Speak with colleagues or your professional association to assess the norm. Don’t hesitate to walk through your concerns with the client - on the phone instead of in an email. I cannot stress enough that verbal back-and-forth is much more effective than trying to negotiate electronically. The worst they can say is no. It’s not personal it’s business. And finally know when to walk away. No one ever likes to turn away work in the freelance business so it’s important to know your breaking point. I have never reached it until now. See more

Grey County Employment Opportunities -

The study, published in Nature, was conducted by Professor Luciano Floridi, Professor of Philosophy and Ethics of Information and Director of the Digital Ethic...s Lab, and Carl Öhman, a postdoctoral researcher at OII, advises that online remains should be viewed in the same way as the physical human body, and treated with care and respect rather than manipulated for commercial gain. See more

Well, well, well... who knew there would actually be an intellectual property issue mixed in with the Stormy Daniels allegations? Should be an interesting follow...

The Government of Canada announced its support for a new joint facility that will house Library and Archives Canada and the Ottawa Public Library / Bibliothèque... publique d'Ottawa. This new facility will improve access to Canada’s history, culture and collective knowledge. #Budget2018 For more information on the budget: http://ow.ly/f2ce30iENMh

Young Local film types - please take note!

I am saddened today to learn of the passing of Dennis Taylor. Dennis was my first boss as a Visual Researcher and taught me all the basics of copyright during our time together at TVO. I consider him a mentor and even though he retired from this type of work many years ago, the media industry will miss him.

Congratulations to all my colleagues at Yap Films on the release of this project! Was glad to be a part of it. Looking forward to the showing.

Will be interesting to watch...

As we approach Remembrance Day, I am pleased to read this CBC story about how archives combined with modern technology are helping keep history alive. I have always loved the Treasure Hunt!

Are you swimming in content? Looking for options on managing your digital assets? There's an upcoming practical workshop in Toronto on November 29th.

I fear this may become the cynical attitude of the next generation who simply don't understand that entitlement is not the norm.

Another example that archivists and librarians are not only embracing, succeeding and excelling in the social media and tech world. Thanks Elizabeth Klinck for sharing!

TBT - love the Simpsons logo

Visual Researcher, Alibi Entertainment, Toronto Alibi Entertainment is looking for a visual researcher with strong organizational skills to start immediately for a 12 week (possibly more) contract. Likely full-time hours. A big part of the sourcing will come directly from a single source with whom we already have a blanket license agreement. Those requests will be across a couple series. The rest will be sourcing pretty basic stills and video from standard inexpensive stock houses. Those images will bring levity and comedy to some interviews that could, at times, use a bump in energy, so a keen sense of humour is an asset. Please email your resume to [email protected]