Any artist should understand copyright and how it affects them.
Did you know that Parisian authorities copyrighted the lights on the Eiffel Tower and as such any photo taken of it at night when the lights are on infringes their rights and if you wish to publish the photo you need to pay them? Who knew, huh! http://c4sif.org/2010/12/copyright-and-the-eiffel-tower/
Anyway back to the real reason for this post, understanding your rights when you take a photo, rights grabs (where a competition organiser or news organisation like the BBC asks you to submit photos), payment for photos etc.
What made me decide to write this post? Well, I was on the BBC Scotland website (I will come back to them and their photo requests) and they have a photo gallery of the "winning" photos from the My Place photo competition run by the Scottish Civic Trust in conjunction with Historic Scotland. This competition is aimed at primary and secondary children all over Scotland, so not people who would understand their rights regarding their photos.
This competition like one run by Visit Scotland (this is not a dig at any individuals who work in any organisation) stated that whilst the photographer retained copyright these bodies and their partners ( or selected 3rd parties) were granted rights in all mediums to do as they wanted. In short make money from the photos submitted.
In the case of the Visit Scotland competition, a concerted effort led by Alex Boyd and several other photographers (myself included) persuaded them to change the usage rights to ones in line with the Scottish nature Photography Awards ( http://www.scottishnaturephotographyawards.com/2013/terms/competition_rules.htm ) where a licence is granted to use the photo in relation to the competition and photo cannot be used by the organiser or partners for commercial gain.
This is the reason I do not submit my photos to the BBC Scotland Your Pictures gallery as they also ensure you give them a royalty free licence to do what they wish with the photos.
"In contributing to BBC News you agree to grant us a royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to publish and otherwise use the material in any way that we want, and in any media worldwide. This may include the transmission of the material by our overseas partners; these are all reputable foreign news broadcasters who are prohibited from altering the material in any way or making it available to other UK broadcasters or to the print media." (source http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11287381). I should add this is standard on their site for news stories too.
The BBC and other news organisation in the UK are aware of the NUJ accepted rates for freelance photographs used ( http://www.londonfreelance.org/feesguide/index.php?section=Photography. However whenever they or any news organisation ask a person if it is ok to use their photo for a credit (having your name shown) they are trying to get round paying. If you have a photo of an incident etc you should be paid by news organisations. I appreciate that not everyone wants paid for the photos they take, but the news organisations should offer the appropriate payment and if it is turned down maybe offer it to a charity of the photographers choice as their actions are devaluing the photographic profession, the skills that have taken years to learn and the vast expense required to ensure the right kit is possessed and working. I should also add that it is how many people put a roof over their heads and food on their families table.
When people ask for your photos please ensure you know your rights as the photographer.
Anyway here is the link to copyright in the UK http://www.ipo.gov.uk/c-notice-201401.pdf
Thanks for reading and here's a little photo as a reward for making it all the way to the end.
Why it's my shot of the Aurora from North Berwick.
