PLUS Coalition Gets $85K Grant From ASMP

Last year the American Society of Media Photographers collected $1.3 million in international licensing money that had to be spent to the general benefit of visual artists. Today we learned where some of that money is going.

ASMP announced this morning that it has given $85,000 to the PLUS Coalition. PLUS stands for Picture License Universal System and is developing a standardized way for photographers and people who use photographs to handle licensing terms. Founded in 2004, the PLUS Coalition receives supprt from a variety of imagery and technology companies. Its president and CEO is Jeff Sedlik. It is recognized as a non-profit, tax-exempt organization and is based in Pasadena, California. PLUS recently announced that three major publishers – McGraw Hill, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Pearson – have agreed to begin using some PLUS licensing standards.

ASMP has also applied $100,000 of its $1.3 million windfall to the ASMP Foundation, which supports educational efforts, according to ASMP executive director Gene Mopsik. That means there is still a lot more money to be distributed.