Does this company have legal right to use my photo for commercial use?

[Kl3X0S]

What is the name of your state? CA

Hi! I have a quick question in regards to possible copyright infringement for a photo I took.

I have found out my photo is being used on the cover of a map of an area. This map is sold in stores for money.
The only way that this company could have gotten this photo is via a photo contest I had entered.

Now in the terms and conditions of the contest the only part that I see they could use in their defense would be the following,
(for privacy, I replaced their name with A and B as they are two separate entities under one main entity)

"Submission of an entry and/or acceptance of a prize grants COMPANY A and third parties authorized by Sponsor the exclusive, perpetual right to publish, use, edit, adapt, modify, excerpt and/or copy the entry for any and all purposes in any and all media currently in existence or hereafter developed without compensation to you, which includes, but is not limited to, the right to publish the entry in COMPANIES B magazine, on COMPANYAWEBSITE.COM (including any other related websites and social media platforms), and to use your entry as we see fit in exhibitions and promotions of COMPANIES B magazine. "

To me, based off that, its reasonable to assume that if they are going to use my work, it needs to be related to "company b" and their photo contest or promotion of the contest or of their magazine and not what ever they want for any reason related or unrelated to the contest.

I figured if I am agreeing to the terms of their photo contest, its all going to be related to the contest.

I dont see it saying im allowing the transfer of my copyright or allowing them to use my work for commercial profit.

It also says "the entry for any and all purposes in any and all media currently in existence"
but is a retail map a piece of "media"?
isnt media just Radio, Magazine, Tv, Internet, Newspaper?

Plus, I thought a copyright transfer had to be done in writing with a hand signature, not just typing my name on a web form?

It seems that their use of my work is completely unrelated to the photo contest, their promotion of it, or their magazine.
Its been used in a completely irrelevant way for profit. So how can they do this?

Im not going to post all the terms and conditions as this is the only part I am questioning as i know they other parts do not affect me.

I feel kinda cheated and like they used this contest as a way to just get free submissions so they could pick some new photos to use in their retail products.
I mean what if they had a sentence in there that says "and we also own your car and house by submitting a photo"

Is there any where to go with this and is it fair to say their wording is unclear and it reads to make one think that if they do use an entry that it would be related to promotional material or material related to the contest only?

I hope this makes sense and ill answer any more questions if anyone has any. Thanks!

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state? CA

Hi! I have a quick question in regards to possible copyright infringement for a photo I took.

I have found out my photo is being used on the cover of a map of an area. This map is sold in stores for money.
The only way that this company could have gotten this photo is via a photo contest I had entered.

Now in the terms and conditions of the contest the only part that I see they could use in their defense would be the following,
(for privacy, I replaced their name with A and B as they are two separate entities under one main entity)

"Submission of an entry and/or acceptance of a prize grants COMPANY A and third parties authorized by Sponsor the exclusive, perpetual right to publish, use, edit, adapt, modify, excerpt and/or copy the entry for any and all purposes in any and all media currently in existence or hereafter developed without compensation to you, which includes, but is not limited to, the right to publish the entry in COMPANIES B magazine, on COMPANYAWEBSITE.COM (including any other related websites and social media platforms), and to use your entry as we see fit in exhibitions and promotions of COMPANIES B magazine. "

To me, based off that, its reasonable to assume that if they are going to use my work, it needs to be related to "company b" and their photo contest or promotion of the contest or of their magazine and not what ever they want for any reason related or unrelated to the contest.

I figured if I am agreeing to the terms of their photo contest, its all going to be related to the contest.

I dont see it saying im allowing the transfer of my copyright or allowing them to use my work for commercial profit.

It also says "the entry for any and all purposes in any and all media currently in existence"
but is a retail map a piece of "media"?
isnt media just Radio, Magazine, Tv, Internet, Newspaper?

Plus, I thought a copyright transfer had to be done in writing with a hand signature, not just typing my name on a web form?

It seems that their use of my work is completely unrelated to the photo contest, their promotion of it, or their magazine.
Its been used in a completely irrelevant way for profit. So how can they do this?

Im not going to post all the terms and conditions as this is the only part I am questioning as i know they other parts do not affect me.

I feel kinda cheated and like they used this contest as a way to just get free submissions so they could pick some new photos to use in their retail products.
I mean what if they had a sentence in there that says "and we also own your car and house by submitting a photo"

Is there any where to go with this and is it fair to say their wording is unclear and it reads to make one think that if they do use an entry that it would be related to promotional material or material related to the contest only?

I hope this makes sense and ill answer any more questions if anyone has any. Thanks!

You granted the rights to Company A to do whatever they want to do with your submitted photo (which would include use as a map cover) - and you also agreed not to be compensated for Company A's uses of your work.

You are correct, however, that for all exclusive rights in a work to be transferred to another (making the transferee the new copyright owner) you need to hand sign a copyright transfer agreement.

In other words. I would not question Company A's agreement had the word "exclusive" been replaced with the word "nonexclusive." You should still retain copyrights in your photo despite granting rights to Company A.

I do not see that Company A has infringed on your rights but I do think you should have the agreement personally reviewed by an IP attorney in your area.

Based on what you have said, I believe you are still the copyright holder with all of the rights of a copyright holder even though you granted Company A unlimited rights to use your copyrighted photo.

Good luck.

 

[Kl3X0S]

Thank you for the info.

I will look into an IP attorney to take a look at it.

It seems just kind of unreasonable having them say "any and all use to do what they want" even if its unrelated to the contest.

I agreed to the terms and conditions under the impression that the their use would be free and unlimited for using my work for things related to the contest.

I dont see any reasonable person just giving away their photos for free and let them do anything they want unrelated to the contest.
Thats why there are licensing agreements for us photographers. Was this a cheap work around for them to avoid a paid license?

So now essentially they could just print out my work and sell it in a gallery and say its theirs? or sell it online? Seems like that is not right.
It seems like they pretty much have copyright if they can do anything they want with it now.

Plus, if they say it can be used anyway in MEDIA, I didn't think a map was a piece of media so wouldn't that nullify their current use of my work?

Its a big company so im surprised.

And since its "exclusive" rights that means i cant use my photo anywhere else now and they can use it forever?

Thanks again for your help!

 

[quincy]

Thank you for the info.

I will look into an IP attorney to take a look at it.

It seems just kind of unreasonable having them say "any and all use to do what they want" even if its unrelated to the contest.

I agreed to the terms and conditions under the impression that the their use would be free and unlimited for using my work for things related to the contest.

I dont see any reasonable person just giving away their photos for free and let them do anything they want unrelated to the contest.
Thats why there are licensing agreements for us photographers. Was this a cheap work around for them to avoid a paid license?

So now essentially they could just print out my work and sell it in a gallery and say its theirs? or sell it online? Seems like that is not right.
It seems like they pretty much have copyright if they can do anything they want with it now.

Plus, if they say it can be used anyway in MEDIA, I didn't think a map was a piece of media so wouldn't that nullify their current use of my work?

Its a big company so im surprised.

And since its "exclusive" rights that means i cant use my photo anywhere else now and they can use it forever?

Thanks again for your help!

To answer your last question first: If the company has all "exclusive" rights to the photo then, yes, you would have no rights.

But I don't believe that is really the case. At most, the company should have nonexclusive rights because I don't believe copyright ownership in the photo was transferred.

https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ01.pdf

You will need to have the contest agreement personally reviewed in its entirety. Again, I don't see that the company has infringed on your rights. It appears you freely granted them the rights they are using. I do, however, think there is a problem with the company's use of the word "exclusive." It should be "nonexclusive."

Good luck.

 

[Zigner]

Thank you for the info.

I will look into an IP attorney to take a look at it.

It seems just kind of unreasonable having them say "any and all use to do what they want" even if its unrelated to the contest.

I agreed to the terms and conditions under the impression that the their use would be free and unlimited for using my work for things related to the contest.

I dont see any reasonable person just giving away their photos for free and let them do anything they want unrelated to the contest.
Thats why there are licensing agreements for us photographers. Was this a cheap work around for them to avoid a paid license?

So now essentially they could just print out my work and sell it in a gallery and say its theirs? or sell it online? Seems like that is not right.
It seems like they pretty much have copyright if they can do anything they want with it now.

Plus, if they say it can be used anyway in MEDIA, I didn't think a map was a piece of media so wouldn't that nullify their current use of my work?

Its a big company so im surprised.

And since its "exclusive" rights that means i cant use my photo anywhere else now and they can use it forever?

Thanks again for your help!

I was going to respond to this piecemeal, but the entirety of what you posted above is incorrect. If you don't like terms of a contest, you don't enter the contest. Whether or not a "reasonable" person would enter the contest with the terms as shown is irrelevant because you did, in fact, enter the contest.

 

[quincy]

I was going to respond to this piecemeal, but the entirety of what you posted above is incorrect. If you don't like terms of a contest, you don't enter the contest. Whether or not a "reasonable" person would enter the contest with the terms as shown is irrelevant because you did, in fact, enter the contest.

The terms of the contest are not unlike the terms of most with the exception of the word "exclusive," which could be a misprint or could be wishful thinking on the part of the contest organizer.

The rights granted FA on this site, for example, are not dissimilar to the contest terms except for that one word.

I do think that people on the whole do not read terms of agreement/contracts carefully enough (or at all) before agreeing to them. It is only when they are upset with the terms being exercised that they realize they are (in most cases) legally bound and have no recourse.

In this case, however, K13X05 could have an argument for (at the very least) retaining his copyright.