Uma Thurman Defends Paparazzi

Actress Uma Thurman has stepped out in defence of the paparazzi, insisting celebrity photographers are "just doing their jobs".

The 38-year-old Kill Bill star has been plagued by swarms of photographers since starting out as a fashion model at the age of 15.

But she refuses to join the celebrity trend of bashing snappers - even when they catch her in unflattering poses.

Thurman says, "They can definitely be annoying, but at the end of the day these photographers are just doing their jobs - one they probably never imagined they would have."

Nicole Kidman: Don't shoot our baby

Nicole Kidman has asked photographers to take pictures from a distance.

New parents Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban are hoping paparazzi will keep their distance during the family's trip to Sydney.

While Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt fetched $14 million from People magazine for pics of their new twins, Knox and Vivienne, Kidman and Urban are trying to keep little Sunday Rose under wraps.

"Keith and I are appealing to the press to give us a little space so we can walk around Sydney and show the baby our town," Kidman, a native Australian, said on Sydney's "Kyle & Jackie O" show.

Kidman is OK with some photos, she said, adding, "just not right in our face or her face because it's scary for her. She's tiny. A tiny little thing."

Since the couple is keeping their bundle of joy out of the limelight, Kidman has revealed that her daughter looks like her daddy, but with a reddish tint to her hair, just like mommy.

Sarah Jessica Parker & Matthew Broderick moving to escape paparazzi

Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick are reportedly moving out of their New York apartment in an attempt to escape the paparazzi.

The couple have lived in their home in the West Village for a number of years but the Sex and the City star explained recently that the paparazzi attention has got out of control recently: “Photographers moved into apartments next door to us and we really found ourselves kind of living like a spy movie… I feel like they think they have to be there. Like they punch in or something.”

According to New York magazine, the pair have fallen for a new $18million home across town in the East Village and are hoping to make their move later in the year.

A source explained: “It’s two houses that have been knocked into one so it’s a lot bigger and has a huge backyard.

“They’re hoping it’ll be more private and give their son [James Wilkie] plenty of room to grow.”

Celebrity Agents Missing Out On Income – Allowing Paparazzi To Promote Their Stars Rather Than Monetizing Package Effectively

With the advent of blogs and websites, publicity and talent agents can take a more active role in marketing and managing their clients. But sadly some of them may be missing out. Rather than making photos readily available of their stars, they let the paparazzi capitalize. Some of the more famous photos may also be mugshots.

The other day Best Syndication was looking to embed the Jessica Simpson “Public Affair” music video on a story. YouTube was the logical first choice for our project. We found her video but were unable to embed it. Why? What does Jessica Simpson have to lose? They have already partnered with YouTube (Google) to monetize the video. They might as well have it placed on numerous sites around the Internet to increase revenue.

So rather than putting up the original Jessica Simpson video, publishers may opt to place a parody of her video. The parody, which may fall under fair-use (similar to Saturday Night Live parodies), will be disseminated among fan sites, blogs and bulletin boards in place of the original video. Adding insult to injury, Simpson and other talented stars do not receive one dime from Parodies.

Reuters, AFP and Associated Press have all signed-up as partners with YouTube. They have decided to join Google in a revenue sharing agreement where ads are placed at the bottom of their videos. The ads only run for a few seconds of the video, but if someone clicks on the ad they share in the revenue.

It would make sense for these agencies to allow embedding. Currently only the Associated Press (AP) allows publishers to embed videos. Both Reuters and AFP do not allow publishers to use their videos. The message provided is “Embedding disabled by request.” This means AP videos will be seen by more people increasing the potential for revenue.

Some talent management companies, public relations departments and agents might be doing a disservice to their clients. They should be providing the best images copyright-free for the public domain. This might be a better choice than allowing an image of their client without makeup moving to top of the picture list in Yahoo’s image search results.

News agencies, bloggers and fan sites may prefer to use the free image over an image they have to pay for, or one that can not be verified in the public domain. Rather than copyrighting the image, they may be better off to offer the pictures copyright-free. If the agencies already have copyright-free publicity photos, make them more readily available and make more of them.

This approach can help give their client a positive image. No more mug shots. No more bad-hair days. No more less-desirable paparazzi photos. Publishers will likely choose from your copyright-safe free images. It is a win-win.