In a grotesquely ill-timed move, the Directgov "Science: so what?" website is running a "Living Science" rights-trampling photography competition. This is brought to you by none other than Lord Mandelson's department of our rights-grabbing Government, in conjunction with their partner News International. Are you sure you trust this man to redefine copyright to protect photographers' interests? Write to your MP quick before it is made illegal by regulation of the Secretary of State.
http://sciencesowhat.direct.gov.uk/competition/living-science-competition-terms-and-conditions
"By entering, all entrants licence News International, the Department for Innovation, Business and Skills, and their authorised representatives, a worldwide, irrevocable, royalty-free licence to publish and use each entry (including all images and text submitted by the entrant as part of the entry process) in any and all media (including, without limitation, print and online) in perpetuity."
Hello again
After running the gamut through everyone involved, the revised terms and conditions are now available on the Science So What website, which better reflect how the submitted images will be used. Thanks again to everyone that raised this issue. I've copied in the important changes below.
Best
Frank
"19. By entering this contest you agree that any (winning or shortlisted) entr...y you submit may be used by the Promoter, News Group Newspapers Ltd and their selected sub licensees solely for marketing and promotional purposes in connection with this contest or future contests, such uses include;
• judging the competition;
• displaying the entries on the Science: So what? So everything website and The Sun’s website;
• displaying the entries in the printed version(s) of The Sun newspaper;
• cropping and re-sizing the image as necessary to fit; and
• inclusion within any materials promoting the competition or any exhibition of images from this competition organized by the Promoter, News Group Newspapers Ltd and their authorised representatives
20. By entering, you grant to the Promoter, News Group Newspapers Ltd and their authorised representatives a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to publish and use your image only in the ways described in clause 19 (above). Such licence will commence on the date your entry is received by the Promoter and will expire five years after the date of the announcement of the winners.
21. If the Promoter or News Groups Newspapers Ltd or their authorized representatives wish to use your image in any way which is not described in clause 19 above, they will only do so after they have contacted you and obtained your express permission for such additional use (for the avoidance of doubt, you do not have to grant such permission)."
Very interesting. As I am understanding this, the UK Government has now grown cocky enough to feel that they can make decisions about photgraphs from everyone in the world?
I think ya'll need to do a little less inbreedign over there.
Just got a reply from someone called Frank to my blog post about the above:
Hi David
Apologies it's taken me a while to response, but I've finally spoken to our lawyers here at SSW central to get to the bottom of this.
By entering, the photographer grants a non-excludive licence i.e. they still hold the copyright to any image submitted in the competition, and can use the image as they please.
With the T&C we are trying to ensure that on entering, people are aware that their images COULD be published in the Sun (who are supporting the competition) and on our website. We are also trying to avoid using entries that have existing copyright restrictions, or that might change during the course of the competition (which is why that scary word 'perpetuity' is in there).
Obviously, SSW and the Sun are unlikely to use the images other than for this competition, and my understanding is that the 'world wide' and 'any and all media' part is simply umbrella terms to make sure we're not breaching the licence grantd by the photographer if the images appear on our website or the Sun's media.
If you have any more concerns then please add them here or drop me a line via the website and I'll do my best to help!
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Inadequate I know..but it's a start, I hope...I have pointed him to the right way to run a photo comp, as outlined on Pro Imaging..
Fair Trade Photographer has started a new campaign to publicise this Image Rights Grab. Following the success of our past campaign (with support from Copyright Action) we would like to encourage all photographers to link to our blog story:
http://fairtradephotographer.blogspot.com/2010/02/beware-living-science-...
with the words Living Science Competition
thanks
Chris
Thanks for raising this issue. I've spoken to our lawyers here at SSW central to get to the bottom of this.
Please note the photographer still holds copyright to any image submitted in the competition, and can use the image as they please.
With the T&C we are trying to ensure that on entering, people are aware that their images COULD be published in the Sun (who are supporting the competition) and on our website. We are also trying to avoid using entries that have existing copyright restrictions, or those that might change during the course of the competition (hence 'perpetuity').
SSW and the Sun are unlikely to use the images other than for this competition, and though the T&C seems very aggressively worded it's rather unexciting boilerplate legalese. Please be reassured that we're not trying to set up an impromptu photo stock library or anything like that!
If you have any more concerns then please drop me a line via the website and I'll do my best to help!
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=134683437495
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