Know your (copy) Rights!

Dark Beauty - Mike Krogemann

Recently I entered a Photo Competition in a neighboring county.  I was fortunate to have 3 of my images selected for exhibition.  I was also lucky enough to have one of my images selected to be part of the Press Release for the exhibition.  Thankfully, the organizer of the show understands copyrights and when I was ASKED if they could use my image for the release, the terms were very specific.  Given the narrow scope of the usage rights, I readily agreed to allowing the use of my image to help promote the show (and one of my images ended up in a small town newspaper to promote the show).

Narrow usage rights are not always the case, especially with many of the online photo contests.

By entering, you grant the Sponsor a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty

-free license to edit, publish, promote, republish at any time in the future and 

otherwise use your submission, along with your name and likeness, in any and all 

media for any purpose, without further permission, notice or compensation (except 

where prohibited by law) ("2013 Popular Photography").

This is part of the terms if you submit a photo to the 2013 Popular Photography photo contest.  Let's break this down, shall we...

Non-exclusive - You get to sell your photograph to other people

worldwide - the entire planet (as if you needed me to tell you that)

royalty-free - they will not give you any money

license to edit - change your photograph in anyway they see fit

publish - as in in their magazine, or website

name and likeness - commonly known as "photo credit" and does not pay the bills

HERE'S THE BIG ONE (FOOT STOMP)

in any and all media - anywhere they like

for any purpose - like an advertisement

without further permission - they don't have to ask you if they can

notice - they don't have to let you know they did it

or compensation - you'll never see a dime for it

So basically, just be entering their photo competition, all the entrants have given the publishers a giant, fresh library of content to choose from for magazine content and advertising material that they don't even have to pay for.  As a matter of fact, you have to pay them to look at your photos.  $10 each image.

Doesn't sound right does it?  Its not, and it sucks for YOU, the photographer.

If you are looking to get into competitions, read the terms of service and see what rights you are giving up.  There are competitions out there that are not all inclusive rights grabs.  Check out I-Shot-It, a competition sponsored by Leica.  The only rights they ask for is the right to use your image in the competition.  Period.  

Oh and for the record, I did not win the contest that I entered, but it was a great experience and my images are still on display until the end of the month.  The winning image was submitted by Lucien Knuteson who is a very talented freelance photographer from Seattle.  His image was FANTASTIC.  Check it out...his website is Lucienknuteson.com

Haircut - Lucien Knuteson