APA Copyright Protection Fund

APA Copyright Protection Fund

APA, a legacy non-profit trade organization that has been working to support the photographic industry and uphold the rights of photographers for over thirty years, understands that artists, writers and creators are in the fight of their lives where numbers make the difference, and requires all hands on deck. That is why, now more than ever, it is imperative that creators of all stripes band together with their colleagues by joining advocacy trade groups such as APA to protect their rights and livelihoods and those of the creators that will follow. 

Over the last several years, APA has been partnering and working with stakeholders from other advocacy organizations in the graphics, music, and publishing sectors to advise lawmakers on how best to ensure the protection of creators' livelihoods in the current and future paradigms.  Through on-going lobbying efforts and face-to-face meetings with key members of Congress, we are proud that these efforts are taking the form of a comprehensive Copyright Reform Bill–the first time Copyright Law has been significantly addressed and updated in roughly a half-century. 

We also realize that the efforts cannot begin and end with lawmakers and the courts. APA also sees it as our mission to inform creators of their rights and how to protect them, while we also engage and educate the public in significant ways that by using someone's work without permission, they are stealing and depriving a person of their livelihood. 

While we are making some significant headway, there remains quite a bit of heavy lifting that taxes the bandwidth of non-profits such as APA. But the lift is made just that much lighter when photographers and creators stick together to present a united front.
Please send your donations to:

APA National
5042 Wilshire Blvd. #321
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Checks should be endorsed to:  APA Copyright Protection Fund

APA is a nonprofit 501 (c) (6) corporation. Contributions are not tax deductable 

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Photographer Norm Clasen currently has an exhibition of his work in Los Angeles from which he is donating a portion of the proceeds to the APA Copyright Protection Fund: 

To my fellow APA members,

I am writing to let you know how serious this issue of copyright protection and “Fair Use” practice is for all of us.  We are all subject to the kind of piracy that Richard Prince and those that are following his example are doing with our work and representing it as their own creative art.
If this continues, we, along with other artists, writers and related creative mediums will be subjected to this disgusting practice on a continual basis. This must end!

I am asking each and every one of us to donate to the Advocacy Fund that the APA has set up to help resolve this.  It’s not going to be easy and it will be costly.  The APA and those organizations they are enjoining to fight this will need to be sufficiently funded to achieve our goal and all of us must participate. 

I encourage you to reach out to your fellow photographers, filmmakers, writers and artists all across the country for their donations to help with this effort. It will take a true collective action to accomplish meaningful change. 

We also need to reach out to businesses, corporations and the general public to donate to this cause as well. With a concerted effort, we can and must procure the funding to educate the public, legislators, judges and ourselves so we are assured our work is protected.

Please don’t take this lightly.  The time is now. We are all in the crosshairs.

Thanks, Norm Clasen