Pro-Imaging

Shutterstock

About this Organisation

Shutterstock is a USA headquartered microstock photography library founded by Jon Oringer in 2003. It sells stock photos and vector graphics. As of the date of this report Shutterstock claim to have over 10,000,000 royalty-free stock photos and 220,000 photographers adding over 100,000 new stock photos every week.

About this Report

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ensuring that all their contests will comply with the Bill of Rights, Rights Off reports for that organisation will be unpublished.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

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Shutterstock's 2010 Photo Safari Contest

Closing Date 12 May 2010

RULES

NB. We have had a note from Shutterstock concerning the above contest. The word 'moral' has been removed from rule 3e and they have changed rule 3dii to specify unambiguously that the commercial uses they seek are solely to promote the contest. Pro-imaging welcome these changes and we have reproduced the adjusted rules below -

3d. As a condition of entry, Contest Participants irrevocably grant to Sponsor, Co-sponsors and their affiliates, legal representatives, assigns, agents and licensees a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, sublicensable, unconditional and transferable right and license for up to 24 months following the Promotion Period to:

i.  Reproduce, encode, store, modify, copy, transmit, publish, post, broadcast, display, publicly perform, adapt, exhibit and/or otherwise use or reuse (without limitation, as to when or to the number of times used), the Participant’s name, address, image, likeness, statements, biographical material in contest promotions;

ii. Use the Participant’s submitted image for advertising, promotion or commercial purposes solely in connection with the promotion of the Contest and the right, without limitation, to publicly display, reproduce and distribute the submitted image in any media format or medium and through any media channel, solely in connection with the promotion of the Contest;

3e. Contest Participants irrevocably forfeit rights of privacy, intellectual property rights or other legal rights that would preclude Sponsor or affiliates from using the submitted image for promotional purposes only. Participant agrees that he / she will never sue or assert any claim against the Sponsor’s use of the submitted image, provided that such use does not violate the terms hereof.

PRO-IMAGING COMMENTS

15 April 2010 The above changes clarify the position of Shutterstock with regard to contestants rights considerably. We hope following contact with Shutterstock that it may be possible to promote this contest.

24 April 2010 Following amicable discussions with Shutterstock they have explained the difficulty of implementing further rule changes now that the contest is underway. The terms and conditions wording that remains a difficulty for Pro-Imaging is paragraph 3e above and its potential to nullify moral rights. We are assured of Shutterstock's good intent and that they will consider changes for future contests. However paragraph 3e may also cause concern to Bill of Rights Supporters and we regret we are unable to promote this contest. We leave it up to potential entrants to make their own decision. Pro-Imaging thank Shutterstock for the changes they did make and we look forward to being able to promote Shutterstock competitions in future.

SPONSORS

#B&H  #ZOZI (ekoVenture, Inc.)

CONTACT 

Contact the organiser using this email address 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 24th April 2010

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 -

© Bill of Rights Supporters Group

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.