Update 10/10/2011: the contest terms in question have been updated.
Just over a year ago, I called out the Oregon Arts Commission / Oregon Cultural Trust for asking photographers to work for free. In that case, they were asking for photos for PR use in exchange for website credit (which, as all working artists know, is worth next to nothing in the real world).
Today, I caught wind on Twitter of a new photography contest from the Oregon Cultural Trust. Given last year’s situation, I headed over to the contest rules for their current promotion to see what might lurk within the legalese. I was disappointed (but not surprised) to see the following rights grab:
7. Release: By entering the contest, entrant grants the Cultural Trust and its sponsors the non-exclusive, royalty-free, and irrevocable right to use, reproduce, copy, publish, display, distribute, perform, translate, adapt, modify, and otherwise incorporate the photo in other works in any and all markets and media now or hereafter known worldwide in perpetuity.
There you go. Photographers can hand over a do-anything-they-ever-want license to photographs simply by entering the contest.
Shouldn’t part of promoting Oregon’s art culture be that artists are compensated for their work? I’ll be sitting this one out, again, and I’ll be actively encouraging other artists who feel their work isn’t worthless to do the same.
Okay, Aaron. But Google+ plus has pretty much the same deal in their terms of service and you throw photos up there like crazy. I’m curious as to what the difference is- genuinely curious. I’d like to know if there’s some reason I shouldn’t be worried about putting my own photos on Google+.
The Google+ terms explicitly state that the license is solely for the purposes of operating the Google services (and nearly every analysis of their terms has come to the same conclusion, including that of folks like Getty Images) – the license for the contest here is a license for doing anything, including sale or resale of the work.
Gotcha. Thanks! I guess I don’t have anything to worry about putting stuff up on +, then.
I see what you’re saying Aaron. Especially if you are a professional who makes a living taking photography. This contest, in fact, may not be for you. The whole idea of this contest is to get real Oregonians out with smart phones, one shots and Polaroids taking photos of what culture means to them. It is not an attempt by the Cultural Trust to get free photography. In fact, the Trust hired a photographer this year (and last) to take the new campaign images, to great success.
The goal of asking Oregonians to enter the contest is to get people engaged. Taking a photo is an action of committing something to memory, on paper. The photo contest is an opportunity for us as Oregonians to collectively share what culture means to us – have you flipped through the photos? It’s pretty amazing.
So I say, if you want to share what culture in Oregon means to you, enter the photo contest. The prizes are super cool – especially the cameras donated by Pro Photo Supply and the room nights from McMenanmins and the food gift cards from Whole Foods. And know that the This is Culture Photo Contest “Terms and Conditions” are there so that the Cultural Trust can showcase the really great images taken by Oregonians for the purpose of this contest, not as a means to obtain free photography for PR purposes.
Hi Kimberly, thanks for your response. There are plenty of ways to run a photo contest without asking for an unlimited worldwide perpetual license to do anything with the photos. Many contests assert only a license for using the images of the winners (who are receiving some sort of prize/compensation). If the organization truly doesn’t need a far-reaching license, then it shouldn’t assert one in the rules.
You also might be careful of phrasing, as reading the beginning of your response it sounds like you’re asserting that photographers aren’t “real Oregonians”…