Giving Permission For Use Forever, Even Without Winning!

I'm seeing it all the time, from equine magazines to commercial horse product manufacturers: prizes offered for entering their photo contest. The latest is from Troxel, the helmet people. Offering about $250 in prizes of a helmet/vest/carry bag for the first place, helmets for 2-5th. Everyone who enters has given the rights to have their photo used in perpetuity for any use Troxel deems useful, without any further compensation, credit, etc. Troxel thought it worthwhile enough to fill out a contact form on my website, inviting me to submit, just so you don't think I'm particularly picking on them. Dover Saddlery is another who recently did one of these contest aka image grabs.

Companies use these user-provided photos for their image libraries. They don't want to pay professional photographers for their stock images, why should they when they can get "just as good" images for free? Whether web-res or print-resolution, this is just wrong. Sometimes it's just the legal department going "over the top", and when questioned, sometimes companies will revise their Terms and Conditions. Don't enter without reading the T&Cs, or you'll deserve what you get.

Troxel puts the burden of proof on the entrant for clearing copyright. If anyone enters that contest with an image they've purchased from me in print OR digital form of them wearing a helmet, they're in violation--images provided for personal use are not released for 3rd party use!

The recent Easy Care contest winner asked for me for permission in advance. Upon winning, she got 4 EBs as a prize. Go ahead, say it--I got "exposure" because I had a visible watermark. LOL. That was useful when I was starting out. I was happy to provide that one as I loved the shot, but Easy Care had to agree first about no collateral use. Pros need to keep the lights on, buy fuel, eat, so we're careful about how often we'll permit this. But I digress.

There's a site which tracks good vs evil rights-grabbing photo contests, and offers the Bill of Rights. An easy read at Pro Imaging.

Expert in licensing and copyright and a very successful commercial/editorial photographer, Jeff Sedlik also teaches at Art Center College of Design. I got his permission to repost from the Advertising Photographers of America e-list his checklist for photo contests:
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David, here is a list that I created for the evaluation of contests received at the Art Center College of Design. Students are prime targets for contest operators seeking libraries of free images for use in marketing and promotion of products and services. It is more common that overzealous legal advisors draft terms that are far more expansive than needed.

Contests are to be rejected if one or more of the following is required under the contest terms:

1. Transfer or assignment of copyright ownership to contest operator or sponsors.
2. Exclusivity of any nature, including any limitation on the continued use of the photography by the entrant. (In the event that a photograph wins a grand prize or other substantial award, some degree of very limited exclusivity is acceptable).
3. The right to use any photograph that does not win an award.
4. The right to use any winning photograph to promote any brand, product or service, other than indirect promotional value received as the result of displays expressly purposed to announce the winning photographs
5. The right to reproduce the photograph in or on publications or products offered for sale, other than publications expressly purposed to announce the winning photographs.
6. The right to use of the photograph without a photo credit
7. The right to sublicense or assign any rights to third parties, except as necessary to facilitate permitted uses.
8. That the entrant hold the contest operator or sponsors “harmless” from liability associated with the use of the photographs, except as related to falsified or incorrect claims or information provided by the entrant.
9. That the entrant grant any perpetual or unlimited rights
10. That the entrant allow the contest owner to store or duplicate the photograph, other than as necessary to facilitate permitted uses.
11. Alteration of the contest rules by the contest operator after the first submission is received.
12. The granting of additional rights to sponsors in exchange for awards to winning entrants.
13. That entrants agree in advance to approve additional unspecified terms if their image is selected.


The Contest May Require of the Entrant:
1. Use of any winning photograph by the contest owner or sponsor, only for the direct promotion of the contest, with photo credit, up to 5 years
2. Use of any winning photograph in a display of winning photographs, with photo credit, up to 5 years
3. Transfer of ownership in the digital file or print submitted, only for the purposes of permanent destruction. Does not include copyright.
4. Entrant must submit model releases if photograph is selected as winner.
5. Submission of reproduction quality files by winning entrants.


The Contest Rules Must Require of Contest Operator:
1. Photo credit on all reproductions.
2. Return OR destruction of all entries
3. Advance express permission and license from entrant for any uses other than permitted uses.
4. Notification of all entrants who request notification of winning entries.
5. Compliance with federal, state and local laws.
6. Preservation of embedded metadata in all electronic reproductions.

Pilots 'n Paws 'n Vets, Hurrah!

Many of my readers know Susan Garlinghouse, DVM. She owns All Creatures Animal Hospital in Montclair, which is up against the San Gabriel mountains below Mt. Baldy. Before that she was in private equine practice, and she continues to be heavily involved in endurance riding, serves on AERC's veterinary committee, as a ride vet and as a competitor.

But Dr. Susan has also racked up massive karma points rescuing animals and placing them with caring owners. My beloved Taran and Tino kitties were feral rescues from the scuba shop she frequents, along with their mothers and suspected fathers.

Her latest rescues were of a mom and litter of 5, the mother was found tied to an orange grove's tree, skin and bones surrounded by her bouncing and apparently healthy puppies. I'm a little hazy on the details of how Dr. Susan heard about them clear up in Oregon, but they were transported by Pilots 'n Paws, an organization of private pilots that helps match rescuers with rescuees.

The pups look to be border collie/retriever crosses though I'm not sure what mom is. All 5 puppies were quickly placed, and Mom was treated for heartworms, which would have killed her. It's obvious how totally adorable the puppies were, fluff balls of total love. And here's a photo of sweetie pie Mom who also got a great home. 3 cheers to all involved! And hopefully, there will be a kick in the butt from karma to the unfeeling excuse of a human being who dumped her with her litter.

August was a bit of a whirlwind, traveling up north to shoot the Tevis, mother of all endurance rides both in toughness for horse and rider as well as a challenge to cover journalistically in photos. I suggested my friend and first-time Tevis competitor Julie Herrera write her story for Endurance News to accompany my photos, here she is with her war mare Shereen (CV Sweet Dal.) Look for the cover story in the October issue.


After Tevis my friend/equine bodyworker extraordinaire Gesa Brinks and I went to Katee Owens' lovely forested home in Mariposa for some R&R and to work on her horses. One had a ten year undiagnosed problem which had Katee spending thousands on vets and practitioners all to no avail. One session fixed her horse.

I spent much of the rest of the month prepping photo orders from Tevis; sales were wonderful, and anticipating the selections from Arabian Horse World magazine. There were two Oldenburg inspections, here's a headshot from one of them, full galleries here and here.


It was a race to get everything done before the long-planned trip to New England, first for a couple of days with Phase II Sporthorses/Patti Bailey, then across the street to Yarrow and Shawn Farnsworth's. Here's the yearling colt Jammer (Just A Memory II) out of Yarrow's mare II Rem-minisse from the stallion she showed to CTR wins all over the northeast and some endurance too, Just II Cool. Yarrow has his full brother, Nitro Cooled Steele, now a 2 year old, who is ponied everywhere and came us on the camping trip.



I borrowed the famed gelding Steele The Show for a few days of horse camping that Yarrow had arranged for a small group of riders --with family members hauling in the heavier gear like tents and food. The campsite was on a 20,000 acre tree farm and wildlife preserve. We rode in on snowmobile trails, and 22 year old Show couldn't wait to show what he could do. I've had Remington Steele*++ get for 18 years now, and he was superbly trained, has done it all from winning the Cal-breds (halter) at 3, successful show horse and two-time Tevis finisher along with one of the other toughest 100s, Swanton Pacific. When he'd get irked at a slow in the pace he'd set his own head and collected his own trot, I could throw away the reins to show it wasn't me! So funny.

We had a fine time, great grub and folks. Among other excursions, the land's owner led a hike to a floating bog which was amazing--imagine walking on a waterbed filled with plants including carnivores like pitcher plants and sundews. The main component was all sphagnum mosses, an unbelievable feeling to tread across--with special properties that scientists come to study.

Here's Yarrow cooking a sausage and fresh veggie scramble with Stephanie of Horse Tenders Inc standing by with the cheese. The leaves were just starting to turn, but an expiring frequent flyer ticket and the campout are why I chose not to wait. Next year, fall color shots, we're scheming early. Next blog entry will be the fun we had with Yarrow and the Horse Tenders crew on the beach at Cape Cod today!

I get mail from people who like my work, urging me to enter a contest they've come across. Entering contests is something I do if the prizes or prestige seem worth it, many of them have fees, but more and more what we are seeing these days are contests that are "rights grabs". Entrants won't know this unless they read the fine print in the rules.

One that seemed harmless is Costco's current contest. The prize money is significant, at $1K for first place. I had a very commercial/wide appeal image in mind, never entered in a contest but it's been around long enough to get stolen as per the image. Anyway, then I read the contest rules:

"10. Entrant confirms and promises that entry is original and does not infringe the intellectual property rights of any third party. By participating, entrant agrees that ownership of the entry and all intellectual property rights in the entry is assigned to Costco, and will do all things necessary to give effect to that assignment.. Entrant agrees to sign any further documentation required by Costco to give effect to this clause."

The first sentence, you betcha. The second--hand over my intellectual property rights to that image (forever) whether or not it wins anything? Or even if it wins the prize, give up all rights to further market that image? In stock photography, the key is to sell and resell an image, almost like renting a car although there is no maintenance--buyers pay for the use they need: local, national, print, web, big, small, commercial, personal and priced on the spectrum of rarity through commonplace. It's more akin to songwriting royalties than rental cars, though that's a discussion for another time, or maybe never.

The Bill of Rights for Photography Contests was developed to help contest organizers offer photographer-friendly terms and conditions. Ones who have complied are promoted and ones who still have rights-grabbing terms are outed to a broad audience. The Costco contest is already listed on their "Rights Off" web page.

Another frequent tactic these days is for web or print media to offer contests where "all entries become property of XYZ corporation and may be used in any or all ways without further compensation to the photographer", thereby developing a library of stock images at no expense. The shooter will never be notified how and when their images is used, so they won't even get the jollies of being published unless they won a prize or honorable mention in the original contest. This rights-grab is particularly rampant in the horse and pet industry.

There are many internet horse mags with top clinician contributors, full paid advertising that want the clinician to supply photos. Clinicians don't have much money to buy photography either. But I digress. Before you enter any contests, hop over to pro-imaging.org and see if they're on the Rights Off list, or read the contest rules carefully yourself.