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"Amazon recently won a patent for perhaps the most commonly used photography technique around: snapping a picture of an object against a white background. But according to experts, the patent isn't exactly what it seems and shouldn't have as much of a profound impact on photographers as they think.\nThe news of the patent win first surfaced about two weeks ago, and the resulting uproar focused on supposed ownership of a basic technique. Technically, it could mean Amazon has license to sue anyone shooting a catalog.\nSee also: The 18 Most Important Features in iOS 8\nNot surprisingly, photographers are not happy. In fact, there's already a petition circulating with nearly 45,000 signatures asking the US Patent and Trademark Office to appeal the parent.\n\"It's an abuse of copyright and a mockery of the patent system \u2014 and we're calling on the USPT Office to declare the reasoning for the patent invalid and get rid of this exercise in ego now,\" the petition description reads on Watchdog.net. \"We don't know if Amazon is about to start sending demand letters to photo studies [sic] or if it just wanted to be able to say that a photography 101 trick that been used for decades is something it thought up.\"\nBut Doug Manchee, Professor of Advertising Photography at Rochester Institute of Technology, believes some photographers are overreacting because they don't understand what the patent prohibits.\n\"Amazon does not have a patent to shoot on a background; rather, the patent is for the particular set up in their studio that involves certain types of lenses, cameras and lighting,\" Manchee told Mashable.\n\u201CAmazon can\u2019t patent shooting on a white background because it didn\u2019t invent that technique,\u201D he said. \u201CThe patent is for a specific way to shoot, and that is why the photo community is both amused and confused by this: it\u2019s just not enforceable.\u201D\nIn fact, if Amazon were to serve up legal papers to a photographer for copying their method, it would have to go to great lengths to do so. Sure, the company could request the original file \u2014 which stores information like shutter speed and camera model \u2014 but there\u2019s no data on the lighting.\n\u201CNobody knows why Amazon did this \u2014 and why they would even want to \u2014 and we\u2019re all just scratching our heads,\u201D Manchee added.\nManchee believes the patent won\u2019t actually affect how photographers shoot in the future.\n\u201CSome photographers are overreacting because they don\u2019t know the specifics,\u201D he said. \u201CPeople shoot against a white background thousands of times a day \u2014 e-commerce is based on this method \u2014 but because Amazon didn\u2019t come up with it, photographers can still proceed. You could always adjust the shutter speed by just a little.\u201D\n\nThe patent specifies lights should be placed in certain positions and are modified by attachments to those lights. If a photographer were to move one of the lights a foot or two in any direction, a person wouldn\u2019t be in violation of the patent.\nSouth Dakota-based Chris Reistroffer, who has been shooting for 15 years, is among the photographers who signed the petition and is upset about the patent ruling.\n\"I hope this doesn't open up the opportunity for other companies to trademark other common photography methods,\" Reistroffer said. \"If another company puts a patent on a black border or a '50s style photo against a certain background, it could eventually affect creativity. It's a dangerous slope.\"\nHave something to add to this story? Share it in the comments."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2014/06/07/photographers-shouldnt-be-too-upset-over-amazons-white-background-patent/>