Pro-Imaging

**AMG Group t/a Vango *, #UK**

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ensuring that all their contests will comply with the Bill of Rights, Rights Off reports for that organisation will be unpublished.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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Vango Photography Competition

Closing Date 18th December 2009

RULES

Vango, part of the UK AMG Group, headquartered in Scotland, want keen campers, outdoor enthusiasts and photographers: professionals, amateurs and novices alike, to send in the snaps of their camping trips or them generally enjoying the great outdoors either alone or with family and friends.

Now note the rights they require in the following extract from the rules.

8. By entering, any subsequent prize winners agree to allow the free use of their names, photographs and general locations for publicity and news purposes during this and future promotions by AMG Group or any associated or subsidiary company including third parties.

9. AMG Group reserves the right to publish all or parts of entries, and publication does not necessarily mean that the entrant has won a prize. AMG Group reserves the right to edit entries in its discretion for publication in any form or media. Copyright for the winning images will be transferred to AMG Group when they are selected by the judges as winners. Hence AMG Group and any third party authorised by AMG Group will be fully entitled to edit, publish and fuse all or segments of each entry in any and all media (including print and online) for publicity and news purposes.

10. Completion and submission of a photograph will be deemed acceptance of these terms and conditions.

These are onerous and unacceptable rules.

SPONSORS

None listed

CONTACT

Complain to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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 23 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.