Was watching Colbert Report the other day and saw that Amazon has gotten a patent on photographing a subject against a white background.  WT#@%k??!!! 

Just googled and apparently its true!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/15/colbert-amazon-patent_n_5331743.html

http://qz.com/207512/taking-a-photo-against-a-white-background-amazon-owns-the-patent-on-that/

Doesn't this invalidate like a large chunk of the images in the microstock collections?  What are the agencies going to do about this?  And will buyers be afraid to buy images over white now? 

Seems insane to be able to patent that.  What's next - issuing a patent on boiling water?   

This would be excellent Fools day joke - 1. April.

Yes, except it isn't a joke.  Google it, or follow the links.  It actually happened. 

Very surprised nobody cares about this 

There are threads everywhere about this.

I just so happened to talk to a couple of Copyright Lawyers this morning and mentioned that and they laughed about it and said it doesn't stand a chance in court.

I didn't see anything here at MSG about it.  Can you post links to those threads here.  I would like to get more info on it.

Good to know your lawer friends think it wont stand up in court.  Hope somebody with deep pockets takes them on over this.

Arent like a quarter or more of the micro collections shot on white background?  Will buyers be afraid to download isolated images?

I'm not worried at all.  Even if this patent survives a challenge, the arrangement it describes looks nothing like any lighting setup I have ever used or even seen in use.  It's bad law, no question.  But I'd love to see it taken up in court.

My setups nothing like theirs either but I would hate to have to prove it for every isolation I upload.  Getty are so paranoid as anyone who shot houses or cars knows.

U.S. companies believe they can patent what they want

What next: patent the moon!? light flare?