Pro-Imaging

San Diego Union Tribune, #USA

Photo competitions and image appeals are notified to us by our contributors from around the world. Listed below are some photo competitions or image appeals promoted by the above organisation which have not met the standards set out in the Bill of Rights.

If the terms and conditions of a contest or appeal fail to meet the standards set out in the Bill of Rights the organisation is added to the Rights Off List and a report such as this produced. We have listed in this report the terms and conditions which failed the Bill of Rights to help the organiser carry out a review. The extracted terms and conditions are shown below in italics.

For advice on why failing to meet the standards set out in the Bill of Rights is a serious issue please read this article.

If at some future date a competition organiser decides to join the Bill of Rights Supporters Group, thus ensuring that all their contests will comply with the Bill of Rights, Rights Off reports for that organisation will be unpublished.

The purpose of the Bill of Rights Campaign is to provide education to the public about the value of rights and to encourage photography competition organisers to adopt the ethical practices set out in the Bill of Rghts.

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Southern California's Faces & Places Photo Contest

Closing Date 14th September 2009

RULES

The following appears in the Terms and Conditions;

CONSENT AGREEMENT

Submitted materials will not be returned. The Union-Tribune is not responsible for the loss of any entry. Winners agree to allow use of name and photos by the Union-Tribune and Photo District News without further compensation. Submission of an entry to the contest automatically constitutes the contestant's acceptance of all conditions set forth in these rules.

Note however on the FAQ page it states this -

Will my images be sold?

No. You retain copyright to your photograph and the contest sponsors may not sell your photo entry for a fee. All entries may be posted online so that viewers may view all competing entries. Winning entries may be used in connection with the contest and promotion of the contest for a period of 24 months from the date winners are notified.

The statement on the FAQ page is much better but unfortunately not legally binding. On the form where entrants are required to register for the contest entrants must tick a check box saying "I agree to the terms and conditions for the entry of this contest". The terms and conditions of the contest as noted above allow the Union-Tribune and Photo District News use of the winning images without limit of time or restrictions on usage.

Had the FAQ statement been put into the terms and conditions it is possible this contest could have ended up on the Rights On List.

SPONSORS

#PDN - Photo District News

CONTACT

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and to the PDN editor whose email address is on this PDN contact page.

You can help the Bill of Rights campaign by complaining to the organiser urging them to change their terms and conditions. If time is at a premium for you we have prepared a complaint email which you can copy and send to the organiser.

The Bill of Rights campaign depends on your active support, your help will make a difference.

Updated on 14th September 2009

The Bill of Rights Standards for Photography Competitions

Competitions which meet all the standards set out in the Bill of Rights do not do any of the following -

claim copyright
seek waiving of moral rights
fail to give a credit for all free usage.
add, alter, or remove metadata from digital images
seek usage rights other than for solely and exclusively promoting the contest. Note that a book, posters, cards, or a calendar are seen as legitimate ways of promoting the contest and defraying costs.
seek free usage rights in excess of 5 years
use the images commercially without the photographers agreement, and such commercial usage is to be rights managed and limited to 5 years.
make it a condition of winning that an entrant must sign a commercial usage agreement.
fail to publish all documents on the competition website that an entrant may have to sign
fail to name the judges for this or last year's competition
fail to explicitly state all the organisations who will acquire rights to the images
set a closing date more than 18 months after the contest launch date
fail to make clear statements of rights claimed and how images are used.

We have written an Organisers Guide to the Bill of Rights to help organisers draft terms and conditions that respect the rights of entrants and at the same time provide legal protection for the organiser.

The above text may be reproduced providing a link is given to the Bill of Rights For Photography Competitions.

Any text reproduced above in italics has been extracted from a competition website for the purposes of review.

Organisations who would like to be promoted as a Bill of Rights Supporter and have their competitions promoted on the Rights On List can use this contact form. One of the campaign team will get in touch with you.

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International support for professional image creators

San Diego Union Tribune, #USA

Southern California's Faces & Places Photo Contest

The Bill of Rights Standards for Photography Competitions

Embedded Metadata Manifesto