Okay, play out this scenario.
(the vision) You go out to the corner store, and a paparazzo starts snapping away - maybe two or three of them. Someone has sold you out again.
(in the early stages) You pull out a standard piece of paper and hold it towards the photographers. This paper has something written on it. The pap doesn't understand or care at first. He keeps snapping away. The paper partially blocks your face. Maybe your kids have one too.
Within a few minutes the pap's publisher has received the photos and is evaluating them. "What's this?", the publisher asks. What is this celebrity holding up? ENDpaparazzi.org What the hell is that? So they visit the site to find out. There, they find better photos that YOU have just uploaded to ENDpaparazzi.org . The pictures there are very candid and showing great emotion. Perhaps you also record a 15 second video sharing what you're thinking that day. The photos/video that you just uploaded (very easily, I might add) have no reference to ENDpaparazzi.org. They are free of copyright. Public domain. There are a lot of great free photos to choose from.
What photos do you think the publisher will go with? How much do you think that paparazzo is going to get paid? The pap tries again, and again. Same result. Soon the pap realizes that the publisher has subscribed to the RSS feed of FREE photos on ENDpaparazzi.org - which come directly from you. The publisher is now being updated in real time. So the pap finds another publisher. This time the pap is smart however. He takes two hours to photoshop out the ENDpaparazzi.org sign you're holding. They are still crappy photos, but at least he won't be promoting ENDpaparazzi.org - the site with free photos of you.
After a few weeks of trying this strategy you start to notice that things are getting better. Paps are starting to realize that there isn't the big payoff there used to be. Photos are just too widely available. They can't compete with what you can put out in seconds. Because you're good, and fast, and smart. Paps are also more unpopular than ever. In extreme stalkerazzi cases pictures of them are posted on a special part of ENDpaparazzi.org to warn others.
MAYBE a year later (or less), it is not a piece of paper you're holding up. Maybe it's just the word ENDpaparazzi.org written on an umbrella. Maybe it's printed on a shirt? Baseball cap? Regardless, your fans know where to go and want to help out. 95% of the profits of any merchandising go to charity (not some self serving charity either) Why? Because you're awesome and this solution doesn't cost a lot to run. It's ready to go right now if you want to try it out. If I haven't made it totally clear yet, this solution is free for all parties involved: you, publishers, fans.
Some paps start to give up. Others hide far off in the distance hoping to capture you off guard - when you don't have your brand/shield up. But now you're wearing your ENDpaparazzi.org brand most of the time. Yes YOUR brand. The brand that is synonymous with generosity.
It's not about money or recognition for me. It's about making a dent in this problem. A big dent.
The answer isn't more laws, more copyright, more lawyers, more lawsuits, more greed. It's less.
If we all come together (Artists United Against Paparazzi) and put greed aside (me included) we can do this. Together we can show the world that sometimes what seemed to be an insurmountable problem had a very simple solution all along: Generosity (plus a little technology).
I realize that you have no idea who I am. Perhaps this will help.
What have you got to lose by trying it out?
(the vision) You go out to the corner store, and a paparazzo starts snapping away - maybe two or three of them. Someone has sold you out again.
(in the early stages) You pull out a standard piece of paper and hold it towards the photographers. This paper has something written on it. The pap doesn't understand or care at first. He keeps snapping away. The paper partially blocks your face. Maybe your kids have one too.
Within a few minutes the pap's publisher has received the photos and is evaluating them. "What's this?", the publisher asks. What is this celebrity holding up? ENDpaparazzi.org What the hell is that? So they visit the site to find out. There, they find better photos that YOU have just uploaded to ENDpaparazzi.org . The pictures there are very candid and showing great emotion. Perhaps you also record a 15 second video sharing what you're thinking that day. The photos/video that you just uploaded (very easily, I might add) have no reference to ENDpaparazzi.org. They are free of copyright. Public domain. There are a lot of great free photos to choose from.
What photos do you think the publisher will go with? How much do you think that paparazzo is going to get paid? The pap tries again, and again. Same result. Soon the pap realizes that the publisher has subscribed to the RSS feed of FREE photos on ENDpaparazzi.org - which come directly from you. The publisher is now being updated in real time. So the pap finds another publisher. This time the pap is smart however. He takes two hours to photoshop out the ENDpaparazzi.org sign you're holding. They are still crappy photos, but at least he won't be promoting ENDpaparazzi.org - the site with free photos of you.
After a few weeks of trying this strategy you start to notice that things are getting better. Paps are starting to realize that there isn't the big payoff there used to be. Photos are just too widely available. They can't compete with what you can put out in seconds. Because you're good, and fast, and smart. Paps are also more unpopular than ever. In extreme stalkerazzi cases pictures of them are posted on a special part of ENDpaparazzi.org to warn others.
MAYBE a year later (or less), it is not a piece of paper you're holding up. Maybe it's just the word ENDpaparazzi.org written on an umbrella. Maybe it's printed on a shirt? Baseball cap? Regardless, your fans know where to go and want to help out. 95% of the profits of any merchandising go to charity (not some self serving charity either) Why? Because you're awesome and this solution doesn't cost a lot to run. It's ready to go right now if you want to try it out. If I haven't made it totally clear yet, this solution is free for all parties involved: you, publishers, fans.
Some paps start to give up. Others hide far off in the distance hoping to capture you off guard - when you don't have your brand/shield up. But now you're wearing your ENDpaparazzi.org brand most of the time. Yes YOUR brand. The brand that is synonymous with generosity.
It's not about money or recognition for me. It's about making a dent in this problem. A big dent.
The answer isn't more laws, more copyright, more lawyers, more lawsuits, more greed. It's less.
If we all come together (Artists United Against Paparazzi) and put greed aside (me included) we can do this. Together we can show the world that sometimes what seemed to be an insurmountable problem had a very simple solution all along: Generosity (plus a little technology).
I realize that you have no idea who I am. Perhaps this will help.
What have you got to lose by trying it out?
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