Using MySpace efficiently

I use myspace quite a bit for marketing - my page is www.myspace.com/rocknrollman if you feel like checking it out.

My page grew out of a personal page and is not anywhere near as professional as Walter's (looks great).

To me there are some great tools to use to promote your photography on myspace the comments, bulletins and blog features.

Comments allow you to comment directly on a band's page and post a photo or two (if they allow html on their page) or to point the band/management/fans to a weblink where they can view the photos.

Bulletins send a bulletin to everyone on your friends list - you can post photos there too.

For a more permanent showcase I suggest you use the blog features to post photo blogs (usually the same as my bulletins) so that anyone visiting your page can take a peek at some of your work.

I also suggest you post a slideshow on your page that showcases some of your images and you change/add/update it periodically.

I find myspace to be a valuable marketing/networking tool for my work and gaining new clients.

Make sure you have written permission from the artists you include in your MySpace front page slide show or on the front page of your web site. Putting up a gallery of your work is considered editorial or documentary use. Including an artist on the front page of your web site or MySpace profile could be construed as promotional use and get you in some trouble with the artist. I am currently seeking payment from a national artist who used photographs of mine without permission on the front page of their MySpace page. My attorney and I independently researched with highly respected photographers in several different fields and all concurred that it was promotional / advertising use. My attorney specializes in copyright law and is a photographer.

I suspect using them in your blog might be OK because it would be editorial. You are documenting an event in your blog.

You are saying I'ld need written permission if I'ld put up a slide show to act as a kinda 'portfolio'?
I'm just starting with Myspace (Click), and this page acts as a 'placeholder' for now, but I'ld like to know...
I'ld also like to know how the hell I can change the picture in my profile: For some reason (probabely user error) it picked one of the images, and I don't know how to change it...

Ok, not sure I understand the whole 'getting permission' from the bands to use images on your myspace. Surely it's the same as having a portfolio online anywhere else... if you're not selling the photos (besides editorial use) where is the problem?

On the other hand, I see the point regarding bands just taking photos that you've taken and using them on their own myspaces.

René Damkot wrote:
You are saying I'ld need written permission if I'ld put up a slide show to act as a kinda 'portfolio'?
I'm just starting with Myspace (Click), and this page acts as a 'placeholder' for now, but I'ld like to know...
I'ld also like to know how the hell I can change the picture in my profile: For some reason (probabely user error) it picked one of the images, and I don't know how to change it...

Have you tried going to the add/edit photos section... from there you need to go to 'view' album... once you're in there you can 'set as default'. Can do a few things with the photos like adding different albums and picking the cover etc... quite easy once you get the hang of it.

Mary Evans wrote:
Ok, not sure I understand the whole 'getting permission' from the bands to use images on your myspace. Surely it's the same as having a portfolio online anywhere else... if you're not selling the photos (besides editorial use) where is the problem?

It is OK to have them in your MySpace gallery, just not on your MySpace front page or as your profile picture. Most bands may not care, but should they care then you could be in trouble. Using them as our profile picture or on your front page could be considered using their picture to advertise your business (just like putting it on your business card or postcard mailers). My base of reference is US Copyright Law and its associated "right of publicity" statutes. If you live outside the US, your laws may differ.

Hi Walter
Well I guess the basic idea of copyright law is the same in pretty much every country, it differs in details. some important and some are neglectible. As far as standarts go the geneva convention is pretty much it.
Myspace might be a little more tricky as it will probably fall under international law (gosh I've got a blackout on how to say this but I'm sure as the legal expert that you are you will know what I mean).
Thanks for the link by the way!
Cheers
Schufi

I have been slowly trying to put something together on MySpace (www.myspace.com/bryonz) but find it a bit difficult. I would like to keep it clean looking as I don't like many pages I have seen there and adding videos and music just makes it run so slow. Facebook is nice for networking but I think MySpace might be a better showcase. Anyone have any good links for programming MySpace?

Walter Rowe wrote:
It is OK to have them in your MySpace gallery, just not on your MySpace front page or as your profile picture. Most bands may not care, but should they care then you could be in trouble. Using them as our profile picture or on your front page could be considered using their picture to advertise your business (just like putting it on your business card or postcard mailers). My base of reference is US Copyright Law and its associated "right of publicity" statutes. If you live outside the US, your laws may differ.

i guess i'm screwed then, because i've got the drummer from Dead Meadow for the Myspace photo, and Buzz Osbourne (Melvins) is on my business cards. :D

rockstarimages wrote:
Hi Walter
Well I guess the basic idea of copyright law is the same in pretty much every country, it differs in details. some important and some are neglectible. As far as standarts go the geneva convention is pretty much it.
Myspace might be a little more tricky as it will probably fall under international law (gosh I've got a blackout on how to say this but I'm sure as the legal expert that you are you will know what I mean).
Thanks for the link by the way!
Cheers
Schufi

I think you are referencing the Berne Convention, which is an international treaty on intellectual property. I read some about it over the last few months as I was trying to learn more about copyright in other countries. I have an American friend who lives in Sri Lanka full time, but she wasn't sure what their laws are relating to intellectual property, right of publicity, etc. I did some online research for her and found out they pretty much follow the Berne convention as do most countries.

Yes, there are nuances that differ from one country to another, but I don't know those details. I learned what I do know because a relatively known musician used my photographs on their myspace page and some other promotional web sites without permission. My lawyer is still in negotiations with theirs so I won't go into any more details about that. I am just referencing that because it was a real catalyst to my learning what I can.

my 5 cents: http://www.myspace.com/askar_ibragimov
just registered and will be improving the page soon (as my time permits). Will try to post there news about new shooted gigs. Will see if keeping myspace will be worth it and will take a close look to the advice from this tread :)

BTW - are there good tutorials how to customise the MySpace and throw away that rather plain default look? Walter and blackshadow, how did you handled this? :)

Google "MySpace Profile Editor" and you will find numerous sites that help customize your profile. Most generate CSS code that you copy-n-paste into your MySpace "About Me" section inside style tags. If you have Internet Explorer, there is now a MySpace Profile Customizer tool available right in MySpace. It isn't the most intuitive, but it can set all of the same parameters that I set in my customization. I used Thomas' Profile Editor.

Here's my page:
http://www.myspace.com/kallebjorklid

Askar Ibragimov wrote:
BTW - are there good tutorials how to customise the MySpace and throw away that rather plain default look? Walter and blackshadow, how did you handled this? :)

I googled for a myspace profile editor and also did a bit of hand coding in html to get my page looking the way it is now. I can't recall exactly what I did though.