*"All entries become the exclusive property of NCL upon submission and will not be returned. NCL reserves the right to edit, adapt, trademark, copyright, publish and/or transfer to third parties all photo submissions."

I was going to enter their photo contest but I'm not willing to just hand them over something they might be able to use with no compensation.  The winning photo I could understand but all entries?  Is this the norm in photo contests?

I see that Kendra was wondering if,

this the norm in photo contests?

Probably not. 

Then again, when they publish a book of all of the contest entries, how are
they going to get away with charging for the book while not compensating
your for your work?????

--
Martin

I don't see them selling a book but using the images in their Latitudes Magazine (NCL = Norwegian Cruise Line) or other types of advertising.  I would understand the winners giving up rights but "all entries" doesn't sit right with me.  Too bad too, I have a great shot from my cruise last year. 

What makes more sense?

a) Going to a stock photo agency and paying through the nose, or

b) have people e-mail you all the stock photos you'll ever need...for free?

No it does not sound right to me.  As I understand if you create the art or take the photo you own the copyright.  Just because you enter a competition does not mean you hand them the copyright, not without them paying for it.

I see that Fred255 commented by saying,

it does not sound right to me.

Agreed. 

He also said,

Just because you enter a competition does not mean you hand them
the copyright

Ummmmm ... careful.  If the contest rules state that they can reuse any/all
photos that were submitted ... and you submit a photo ... that means that
by submitting a photo, you entered the contest, and you agreed to their
rules ... and that could include permitting their reuse of the photo. 

I am not trying to suggest that all contests have that rule or that contest
(or any other contest) should have that rule -- just that they can have
such a rule ... and that if/when you enter, you agree with their rules and
are bound by their rules. IOW, that's the entry fee. 

--
Martin

I have just checked on trhe copyright forum, It seems they can.

"Yes they can provided they tell you in advance, which is what they have done. If you submit an entry you are accepting that condition. If you do not agree with the terms of the contest simply do not submit an entry."

That's where I'm at now.  As I was reading about the contest I had a great image that meets their qualifications (taken during that time period and while on an NCL cruise) but I've decided not to bother with the contest.  

Having never entered any contest except here at Rendo, I just wasn't sure that was the norm. 

FYI, here's the notice from the Halloween contest. I think it's fair. It allows the sponsors to use your work (with limits)  To me that makes sense because they were good enought to donate prizes. If I won a copy of  something like Photoshop (for example)...I'd be happy if Adobe used the image..besides..I would still own the copyright to it, so I could in theory sell it down the road

All artists agree, by entering this contest, to allow Renderosity to use their entries for promotional purposes: online, digital, in print, on CD, or in any other medium. By submitting your entry into this contest you are granting Renderosity the right to retain your entry in it's archive and to display the the entry within this community to promote Renderosity or future contests held as a part, or extension of this community.

By submitting this form, you agree that you are authorized to grant permission to the sponsors to use your creative work, as well as permission to use all images and copy sent to the sponsors in multiple places on our website and for external demonstrations of product art. Please make sure to state in your submission if any provided images are copyrighted by a third party. The sponsors will provide you complete credit for your contribution. Renderosity and the contest sponsors do not seek ownership of any of the entries! The Artist will remain the intellectual property holder of their entry images.

For our "challenges" it's much simpler as there are no physical prizes involved

Artists grant permission to Renderosity for the use of the submitted images for an undetermined period of time. This is strictly for posting the image on the front page and within the contest archives. The Artists will remain the intellectual property holder

Thanks for posting that Bruce.  I wouldn't mind letting Adobe use one of my photos under those circumstances either, lol.

I'm glad you didn't entry that contest Kendra, pretty shifty of them I must say.  SouthBeachPhoto hit the nail on the head with his/her comment.

It is very common for magazines and newspapers to use photo contests as a way of gathering free to use stock. One of my local papers even invites readers to submit pics for a daily readers pic section. You get no payment on publication and no  return of pic and they will use it whenever they want.

Even the BBC do it and are also being given for free actual news pics which the public send in.The public are totally daft to give away the rights.

The difference with the BBC and local newspapers is that you still own the copyright.

Seeing what is posted in the opening post this 'company' is telling you that you are giving them the copyright of that image.

Facebook does the same thing they state that by posting images on their website you are giving them the copy right adn even if you take it off they've backed it up and will use it for what they like when they like, and that could include selling it at a very high price as fine art and you don't see a penny!

I seriously would'nt submit images to anyone if these terms and conditions are around.

Wow...  I'd sort of understand if they said this just for the winning image, but all the images submitted to the contest?  If you win and the prize is great it might be worth it, but if you loose, then you don't only loose the contest, you pretty much loose your photo?  ugh...

If anyone ever asks you to give up your copyright as a condition of entering.....run away, as fast as you can....

I don´t really think it´s a fair deal they set up, but on the other hand, many people never get a chance to sell any of their images, and what good does a image do taking space on the hard drive with out ever getting seen by anyone or just family and close friends.

For me sometimes getting my images displayed is worth more then the amount of money the image could possible produce. On the other hand it´s the first time I´ve seen anyone stipulating the right to sell it on to a 3d part.

I´ve learned to always read the terms and rules before entering any contest.
My advice, if u hesitate don´t enter.

For me it´s about my artistery, I wanna know how my images are used, and to what purpose.
/Benny

Bonker, you have a lot of very good images and you should be selling some to the card makers or making your own. Better than a contest  I suggest you contact card makers.

@Bonker...you said;

**"For me sometimes getting my images displayed is worth more then the amount of money the image could possible produce."

**I used to think exactly the same.
I've never made a cent off any of my photographs.
But once you find out that some of your images have been ripped (stolen)...and are being sold for someone else's profit....I think you will change your thoughts on this matter.

I understand what you mean I wouldn´t want anyone else to make money of my images either.

I haven´t what I known got my work stolen, but I safeguard a little when posting, since i always shrink the image, i keep the original full size while the posted version almost allways get something cropped out. In case I see my picture anywhere I can prove it´s mine by showing the fullsize image, wich I heard helped win copyright lawsuits. But then again I´m not sure my work is good enough for anyone to steal.

There have been many incidents of image theft from Rendo members here in the past....just do a search here in this forum.
Your small size image is still big enough to "upsize" to print quality with some of the newer software out there.
Cropping and saving your original will help you to prove ownership.....but, that is only after finding out about the theft in the first place....there are many, in fact most, that you will never find.

"Borrowed" artwork is being sold in street markets, on the net, etc....your chances of stumbling across your work would be astronomical...

But, back to the original topic of this thread.....by entering that "contest", you are LEGALLY giving your image away....

I read somewhere about a new function in photoshop that place a id hidden and that somehow u can get a function that searches all over the net for any copies of the image.

Like u said, the chance of finding out about the theft is so small, but I don´t worry to much about it, I do what I can to minimize the risk. =)

Yeah back to the thread..

If you have a good chance of selling the image, then don´t enter a contest with it.
Is it a good picture that stand a chance at winning?, well maby it´s worth it
Is it´s a bad pic, why not try, maby they give stuff out on random and if it´s a no good photo they´ll proberbly not use it anyway, and most likely wouldn´t you either.

Then there is another aspect off it, and that if one would choose to support a organisation that use this kind of methods. Someone before said, like if adobe would like to use my images for advertising their products, I would be honoured the first time,  but since they get it for free the first time, they´ll proberbly want it for free the second time or they´ll choose another artist´s image.    Beacuse the second time I would like to be paid.

So is the chance of getting in the spotlight worth giving up one of your images?
I guess it depends where u are in life and as a artist and what u see as important at that point.

I just remebered a contest we had in sweden with the same condition, but where u actully had to pay to enter the competion. Like I said before read the terms before entering.

Attached Link: photography Forum thread: My copyright notice

function in photoshop that place a id hidden ... [and]
function that searches all over the net for any copies of the image

Yes, that is true. 

It is called a digital watermark; technology by Digimarc.  The specific
service that provides that protection/tracking is MyPictureMarc. 

This subject has been discussed recently; please read the messages in
the "My Copyright Notice" message thread.  There you'll find links to the
Digimarc service. 

Please let us know what you think about that methodology. 

--
Martin

I've heard a few times now that there are ways to get rid of that Digimarc marking, I don't know wether it's true or not though.  I've also tried watermarking one of my images a while back with Digimarc and it made it look dirty like, it's supposed to be invisible, but it had slightly altered the look of my pic, it didn't look as sharp.  BUT!  Maybe it was me not doing it right and even if I was doing it right, maybe they've improved it since that time, that was a few years ago.  Finally, that's good when your image is used on the web, but if someone grabs it to sell prints of it, it won't necessarily be on the web .  Many of those who grab photos on the web and try to sell them as prints don't really care that the resolution isn't right  and that the print may not come out very good, many who buy those print versions won't even see a different especially with the printing machines we have nowadays.