I was going over my Twitter feeds today, and I noticed a familiar post from PennLive (they operate several newspapers across Pennsylvania). It said, "Enter your macro shots into our community photo contest."Sound like fun?
A while back, when I was but a neophyte in the photographic world, I was interested in putting my work "out there" for fun. I didn't understand the conecpt of intellectual property, copyright infringement, and value for work done. It took a while, but I started to learn and understand how things are done from a legal standpoint. I wondered about the license terms for "contests" like the one that PennLive runs, and I asked them about it, and they pointed me to their User Agreement.
Buried deep down in that User Agreement, you'll find the following:
"Except as expressly provided otherwise in the Privacy Policy or in this Agreement, you agree that by posting messages, uploading text, graphics, photographs, images, video or audio files, inputting data, or engaging in any other form of communication with or through the Website, you grant us a royalty-free, perpetual, non-exclusive, unrestricted, worldwide license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, translate, enhance, transmit, distribute, publicly perform, display, or sublicense any such communication (including your identity and information about you) in any medium (now in existence or hereinafter developed) and for any purpose, including
commercial purposes, and to authorize others to do so."
Seems pretty harmless, doesn't it? It's not.
Sure, I understand when a publication wants to protect itself when people send them content. They can't control what happens to photos after they publish them, and they don't want to be caught in the middle of a copyright dispute. So rather than get specific about the subject, they just throw a "we can do whatever we want" clause in there. Unfortunately, such protection often turns into a shameless rights grab, and this is exactly the case here. This statement above allows PennLive to use your works however and whenever they feel like it. No restrictions. No time limit. No remuneration to you.
They can build a nifty little stock photo collection. At some later date, when a story comes around that needs a little extra photographic illustration, they can pull YOUR WORK from that stock. For free. They don't have to hire a photographer, they don't have to pay a microstock company. They don't have to give you a cent. Since you gave them the rights in the "contest," what was yours is now theirs.
If a client wants to place an ad on PennLive, and one of your photos helps sell the product, PennLive can use it and not pay you a dime for your work. What was yours is now theirs.
They can also modify your work however they see fit. Distort it. Change it. If you don't like what they did with your photo...too bad. Tough. What was yours is now theirs, and you willingly gave it up.
Oh...and while they are publishing your photos, they can also use this clause to allow them to send out (hey...and sell!) information about you. That's your identity. For any purpose. Forever. And they can legally authorize others to use your information as well.
Still sound like fun?
Of course, they could modity this agreement. It could just be restricted to the "photo contest" and for things related to it. Basically a small change in the wording would protect both the submitter (you) and PennLive. But then again, it would restrict them from being able to use all of your stuff for free. So don't hold your breath.
