Advice for running a photography competition

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Fearless_Shultz

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Hi All,

I work in internet marketing and am responsible for running managing the new UK blog for my company.

Our industry is car hire and so has a strong correlation with travel and as photography is one of my major hobbies I have decided to introduce a travel photography section to the blog. I am planning on launching a monthly photo competition and just wondering about some of the legalities.

My main question is, if someone enters a photo and it turns out that it wasn't actually them that took it, for example they just stole it from elsewhere on the internet, who's responsibility is any copyright infringement? Is it us as the company hosting the photo or the person that has placed it on our site?

Dealing with checking for copyright infringements on text content is obviously a lot easier so just also wondering if you guys actively monitor for images that also appear elsewhere in some way or just put it down to trust in your users?

Any advice on this and in running such competitions in general would be hugely appreciated!!!

Kind Regards

shultz
 
I suppose you put in your terms and conditions that when you enter your photo, it has to be taken by you. This covers you if you get anyone saying otherwise.Let the person who entered it, or stole it for that matter answer to his/her consequences.

If the photo is going to be used in future adverts for the company, the copyright will remain the photographer and "you" cannot use it for your own means without paying the photographer.


So works both ways i suppose!
 
Thanks for the response dan,

It is obviously very important to ensure that we stay protected as a company in terms of leaving ourselves open to copyright infringements but also really important that we make anyone interested in submitting an entry comfortable that they are not being screwed over! so like you say, I suppose it works both ways...
 
You could have a look at http://tineye.com/ and see if it appears elsewhere. Its not infallible but it might find your "winner" on another site.
 
Heres what I mean about the terms addition

Taken from another comptetition

" The photograph, in its entirety, must be a single work of original material taken by the contest entrant. By entering the contest, entrant represents, acknowledges, and warrants that the submitted photograph is an original work created solely by the entrant, that the photograph does not infringe on the copyrights, trademarks, moral rights, rights of privacy/publicity or intellectual property rights of any person or entity, and that no other party has any right, title, claim, or interest in the photograph."
 
Airscene competition rules states that:

"Any entries found not to be the work of the entrant (stolen or otherwise) will be disregarded and the entrant banned from further participation."

Obiously as already stated, if you intend on using the image for promotional or publication purposes you will need to ensure that rules on privacy etc are adhered to, and also bear in mind that you will need to remove said stolen images from publication immediately.

Someone else mentioned privacy above, however under current laws it is OK to place entries on a competition shortlist without falling foul of privacy laws so long as there are no other legal issues such as decency or child protection involved.

Any images entered which you intend on using for promotion/advertising/publications after the competition has closed should be clearly stated and it is worthwhile being specific about any rights transferred to yourself of sponsors. That said - ensure the photographer retains their own rights and be very specific about any commercial use of the image.

As for checking on stolen images... Google images have been inviting users to suggest keywords for images for a number of years now and it is easier than you might think to find stolen images, and usually within the first 10 or so pages of a search - so use very specific keywords relating to the images you want to check. it won't be necessary to check all images yourself unless you are suspicious - I always look to see if EXIF data is missing first - this can sometimes be a good indication that you need to do a search.

And remember, if it is stolen, you need to remove it from your site/blog.
 
Hi,

I've launched a photo competition on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Photo-School/43983416175?v=app_7146470109) and a member is asking if she can send me a photo she has taken of a person. Am I right in thinking that as long as she has taken it, the copyright remains with her, and she wouldn't need a model release because she isn't making money from the photo?

Your help would be much appreciated. Thanks, Natalie
 
photo-nattie said:
Hi,

I've launched a photo competition on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Photo-School/43983416175?v=app_7146470109) and a member is asking if she can send me a photo she has taken of a person. Am I right in thinking that as long as she has taken it, the copyright remains with her, and she wouldn't need a model release because she isn't making money from the photo?

Your help would be much appreciated. Thanks, Natalie
Click to expand...

Yes copyright remains with the tog unless there is a contract stating otherwise :)
 
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