The AOP has been a campaigning body since its inception as AFAP (Association of Fashion and Advertising Photographers) in 1968, when photographers got together and spoke as a united voice against model agencies and their fees. There have been a number of victories, but none greater than the change in legislation which resulted in the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, and more recently the removal of Clause 43 (Orphan Works) from the Digital Economy Bill.
Every victory depends on our working with other like-minded groups such as
- British Photographic Council www.british-photographic-council.org
- Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS) www.dacs.org.uk
- Editorial Photographers UK (EPUK) www.epuk.org
- National Union of Journalists (NUJ) www.nuj.org.uk
- British Copyright Council www.britishcopyright.org
Representation is made to the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), or the issuing Government Department, and the EU Commission when consultation papers are issued on proposed legislation which may affect photographers and their livelihoods, and when draft legislation is circulated for comment.
Where necessary, we lobby and issue briefings when legislation is debated through the Houses of Parliament (Commons and Lords).