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Apple to Pay Licensing Fees to 'Shot on iPhone' Contest Winners After Artist Complaints

Lets run the scenario and see what people think:

Apple runs a photo contest. The winning photo will be use in any Apple marketing or product promotion campaign. The winner will get a 'owners credit' on any marketing or product promotion documents.

Apple feel the winning photo is perfect for a new product they are releasing. The photo is put everywhere, tv ad's, adverts in tabloid papers and magazines, ad's on websites and on billboards. The marketing of the product with the help of the photo makes the company $2 billion and all the owner got was a 'thankyou' back when they won the photo competition.

Creative ad agencies are impressed with the photo and track down the owner via the 'owners credit' and find out it was shot on an iphone by an amateur who works in the building trade. Suddenly these ad agencies go 'hmmm, no thanks, not for me'.

So, Apple make $2 billion with the help of your photo winning entry and all you got was a 'thankyou' because that is what the T&C's of the competition were. You still going to be happy at that prospect..somehow i don't think so.
 
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laptech said:
Lets run the scenario and see what people think:

Apple runs a photo contest. The winning photo will be use in any Apple marketing or product promotion campaign. The winner will get a 'owners credit' on any marketing or product promotion documents.

Apple feel the winning photo is perfect for a new product they are releasing. The photo is put everywhere, tv ad's, adverts in tabloid papers and magazines, ad's on websites and on billboards. The marketing of the product with the help of the photo makes the company $2 billion and all the owner got was a 'thankyou' back when they won the photo competition.

Creative ad agencies are impressed with the photo and track down the owner via the 'owners credit' and find out it was shot on an iphone by an amateur who works in the building trade. Suddenly these ad agencies go 'hmmm, no thanks, not for me'.

So, Apple make $2 billion with the help of your photo winning entry and all you got was a 'thankyou' because that is what the T&C's of the competition were. You still going to be happy at that prospect..somehow i don't think so.
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OK under your scenario how much should the owner of the winning photo be paid?
 
It was kinda ****** of Apple to hold a contest where they actually take something of yours (the rights to it for a year anyways) and not offer a prize of some sort.

Hell, years ago Microsoft asked people to submit some tips for using windows better, I sumbitted a tip for IE kiosk mode.

Not only did they publish my tip, and give me credit; they also sent me a t-shirt.
 
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Even if this isn’t a commissioned work I think apple should pay a license fee for using others work, doesn’t matter if it made by an amateurs or pro. Good on apple
 
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No wonder why prices are so high. Apple pays for everything. Next they will license air around their leased stores.
 
In other news, capitalist scumbag company does new scummy thing. I wonder if anyone is surprised anymore these days.
 
Kyle4 said:
People should be paid for their work. Apple is obscenely wealthy, I think they'll be okay. They could give each of the 10 winners $1 million each and it would be absolutely nothing to them. People defending this nearly trillion dollar company are gross.
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And probably employees. Good employees maybe but not autonomous in providing for their income.
 
It seems that all those people defending Apple, saying you don't have to enter, don't whine after entering [BTW, people are complained and not entering], it's not work and other such inane platitudes are completely clueless about what is being done here.
Competitions like these are simply mass rights grabs. They are a way of harvesting large numbers of images for free and thus not needing to pay photographers for their work. So even if you didn't enter, as a pro photographer your market is being eroded away by such competitions [they are becoming the norm for companies to get images now], along with the continued devaluation as photography as something not worth paying for. Because if one of the most profitable companies in the world won't pay for photography to advertise their very high priced products, why should anyone else.

Apple are only half heartedly backtracking now and only because they've been called out on it and even then they are only paying for the just ten billboard shots and not all the other imagery being used in shops and other advertising channels. Plus I doubt very much they will be paying market rates for that anyway. Normally the financial rewards for such a large global advertising campaign would be really serious money for all involved. I doubt the prizes, would even come close to a fraction of that.
 
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brofkand said:
You can't buy food with a medal or happy thoughts, takes money for that. I don't work for free, do you?
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phr0z3n said:
It’s not a job. It’s a contest.

Either way as a photographer I think it would look good to have your photo featured in something related with a company as big as Apple. It’s something to put on your resume.
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Two ways of looking at the world.

Which one do you think will be most successful in the 21st century economy?

(Personally, I believe the latter approach is the easy winner.)
 
Manzanito said:
Maybe.

Still, it’s cheap on apple’s side to get pictures for free. Even in high school photo contests winners get a prize.
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This is all voluntary. People knew up front they weren’t being paid (or given any other prize/gift) if their photo was chosen. Somehow the last time Apple ran this competition that didn’t stop people from entering.
 
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Kyle4 said:
People should be paid for their work. Apple is obscenely wealthy, I think they'll be okay. They could give each of the 10 winners $1 million each and it would be absolutely nothing to them. People defending this nearly trillion dollar company are gross.
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It's not 'a work'. It's a contest that has some rules upon entering it. It's like you bought an apple for $1 and later whining in Twitter about the high price, asking the shop for a refund. Ridiculous sh**ters. Those shooters
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TheShadowKnows! said:
Maybe not to you, but it is copyright.
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I'm a professional photographer. And yeah, this isn't work.

If you agreed to the terms, you've sealed a contract. Whining afterwards is a sign of low IQ, at least
 
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Apple isn't running this contest for artistic or humanitarian reasons. They are running the contest to
market more iPhones and cash in. So why shouldn't the winners receive a cut of the action either in prizes or
licensing fees? The wealthy aren't interested in anyone's financial prosperity except their own.
 
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If one is entering a competition, there are always terms and rules and you have to read the rules which most don't bother reading anyway. I don't know why anyone would expect to get paid, you only get whatever the prize is offered for winning.
 
Glockworkorange said:
Are pro photogs really all over this? I just assumed average schmucks that take pictures on vacation (like me) are entering. I also assumed this was an amateur thing, which means people shouldn’t expect to be paid. It’s also a contest, not “work.” Most people in fact will not get paid, even if Apple pays some people.
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Do you think the demo photos that Apple puts on their ads and on the demo phones in stores are made by amateurs?
 
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sofila said:
and as usual Apple's change of approach follows bad PR news spreading on social
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That's the one issue I have with Apple these days. They seem a little too responsive to bad press these days. The Apple of old (under Steve Jobs) would have just showed them the middle finger and carried on business as usual.
 
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edgonzalez32 said:
Uh yeah it is. If photographers are going out to get that shot to send to Apple, that's work. Those photos they showcase are not done by amateur photographers.
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Obviously you've never followed their previous Shot on iPhone campaigns. They pick amateur photographers for these shots very often. That's the point of this campaign: anyone can shoot on iPhone.

If Apple wanted professional shooters for the iPhone to take photos, they would just do it and get quotes eluding to the the greatness of the camera by an expert - they've done that in previous instances.

Lol this isn't Apple trying to play a fast move on professional photographers... don't be ridiculous. If a photographer wants to go out to get *that* shot to try and win a contest in which he knows there was no payback, that's their prerogative.
 
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Mascots said:
Obviously you've never followed their previous Shot on iPhone campaigns. They pick amateur photographers for these shots very often. That's the point of this campaign: anyone can shoot on iPhone.

If Apple wanted professional shooters for the iPhone to take photos, they would just do it and get quotes eluding to the the greatness of the camera by an expert - they've done that in previous instances.

Lol this isn't Apple trying to play a fast move on professional photographers... don't be ridiculous.
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Yes, obviously I have never ever heard of this marketing campaign, ever. I live that deep in a cave.

Come on man. There a professional photographers submitting photos.
 
edgonzalez32 said:
Yes, obviously I have never ever heard of this marketing campaign, ever. I live that deep in a cave.

Come on man. There a professional photographers submitting photos.
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So what if there are professionals submitting photos? How does that change anything when they don't have to submit what they find value in?
 
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The part of this contest that is a contest:
Photos are submitted. Submitted photos are judged by a committee of profesional photographers and one or more winners will be decided.




The part of this contest that becomes "work" and is subject to licensing fees:
Winning photos will be utilized in a national or international marketing campaign used to promote Apple and Apple products, resulting in sales and profits for Apple inc.
 
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