Pro-Imaging, whose campaign against rights-grabbing competitions we fully support, has released a spoiler image for people to submit as entries to unfavourable competitions. Says Pro-Imaging "We have devised a useful and desirable image that everyone is encouraged to use to send a clear message to the organisers of bad competitions". You may download and deploy from Pro-Imaging.
The first victim appears to be the National Trust's 'Picture Yourself' competition site.
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The photographer who uploaded it added the comment "After receiving an email to remove my images from Alamy I can only assume this is your below the belt approach at obtaining images from people to populate your current library. After all your collection of images are poor enough that you will need to obtain some quality ones if you wish to try and corner the market". This was at http://www.pictureyourself.org.uk/view.php?photo_id=1600 for a few hours, but has since been detected and removed. However a second copy has since appeared, displayed on the front page at the time of writing.
More about the NT's Picture Yourself competition and the collision with Alamy may be found here.
The idea of submitting protest images is not new, and has been carried out ad hoc by many individuals in the past with sometimes hilarious or repulsive results. We have seen at least one past competition spontaneously littered with Goatses by aggrieved contestants. However Pro-Imaging are possibly the first to enlist the technique as an organised campaign tactic.
As well as grabbing rights, the NT forbids any commercial use of photography on their properties.
To be fair to them, they have a duty to maximise their income.
But they haven't got the weight of the law behind them.
At the BAPLA Picture Buyers' Fair last year Nicola Solomon of the law firm Finers Stephens Innocent pointed out that it's part of the conditions of entry to an NT property that you cannot take images for commercial use. You buy a ticket, you enter into that contract.
But if you DON'T buy a ticket, e.g. if you are officially invited on to the property or go for some other function, it does seem that you can take and sell photographs. I don't know how far I would care to test this, as the NT's legal department is larger than several small countries. Still, it's worth remembering.
It is also worth remembering that the NT does NOT own the airspace above their properties, so if you have a pal with a Piper you can fly within 500 feet and snap away to your heart's content.
Until they get ack-ack guns.
The process of their corporate shafting had become known as the National Thrust, and the after effects, the National Thrush.
Two other NT competitions have come to light wherein the NT not only grabs all economic rights and prohibits sale of any photos entered, but also forbids submission to any other competition of the same images unless it has been approved by them. They are The International Garden Photographer of the Year competition, and the National Trust Round in Circles competition.
[EDIT: IGPOTY is not run by NT but has a special rules section, section 12, which makes these stipulations regarding photography at NT sites]
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2 more...
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OK -- this seems to have evolved into a spontaneous competition.
I am now being emailed brilliant original artworks for entry to the NT Picture Yourself competition at http://www.pictureyourself.org.uk
Unfortunately entrants clearly need to be reminded that this is cheating. No matter how clever your work, if you don't submit it to NT it doesn't count.
Only screen grabs of your creative work 'in situ' at the NT site may be
considered for display here at http://copyrightaction.com/forum/pro-imaging-devise-spoiler-image
These are the rules of NT F***yourself:
submitted your work to NT. Some poor sod is clearly spending Saturday
vetting submissions. 3am entries may be more long-lived.
2. Points will be awarded for aesthetic achievement & savage wit. Please do not submit obscene or defamatory images. Informative, assertive, sarcastic, mildly obnoxious are fine. Bear in mind that amateurs submitting photos, and with any luck, press, will see your work.
3. Multiple entries are welcome, but you may have to register different usernames and perhaps IP addresses for each submission to the NT site.
4. Prizes. There is no prize for entering or winning this competition, except a sense of self-preservation.
5. Screenshots should be emailed to admin@copyrightaction.com
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..and another...
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Another one...
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It appears that some independently-minded folk prefer to create their own protest image
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