A pirate’s treasure map
Written by John MacphersonOrdnance Survey are running a photographic ‘competition’. Hoorah! No wait, calm down don’t get too excited…….
Of course it’s not a proper competition, it’s a rights grab. Getting as much free imagery as it can for minimum outlay. (link)
Seems like OS management have got round the table and said “How can we generate more money?” And someone has said “Let’s be creative! Lets save money instead! We can try to get images for nothing and then we can keep all the cash we used to spend to buy images in from freelance sources and stock agencies! Genius!”
And that’s what they did. And in the longest set of Competition Rules I’ve ever seen (link) they’ve buried the key sections, 58 & 59:
Basically we can exploit the IP of images, in any way we want, for cash. And keep that revenue all to ourselves.
What do OS think of this brilliant wheeze? Their MD Nick Giles is on the record as saying this about their ‘competition’:
” This is a ‘money can’t buy’ opportunity and a chance for our customers’ favourite photographs and beauty spots to feature on the shelves of high street retailers, local book shops, tourist information centres, as well as in homes and, most importantly, in the pockets and rucksacks of budding explorers.“
Note his use of the phrases “money can’t buy” and “in the pockets”. I think what he means is ‘we’ll not spend any of our money, we’ll exploit you, and any money we make off your IP we’ll pocket’.
And in a further flash of inspiration OS have done what NO other competition organizer has EVER done – they’re allowing their own staff and their families to enter too. Except. Except they can’t win a prize! But their work will still become a digital asset of OS and be exploited for profit. Marvelous idea.
In the not too distant past OS used to pay for imagery. Doing what their Corporate Responsibility statement promises (link), to “realise social, environmental and economic benefits for our staff, the local community, the nation and beyond.”
But wait, who’s first in that list of beneficiaries above – “our staff”. So where do you think this revenue is likely to go? Yep bonuses.
The Irish Examiner pointed out how keen OSI (that’s the Irish OS) have been to get bonuses into the hands of their key staff (link):
And if you have a poke around you’ll find that they’ve been getting nice bonus payments for quite a while now, exploiting their IP for profit, as this Freedom of Information Request reveals.
Now, OS operates on the basis of IP, they obviously know its value, here’s what their website says:
“IP rights are there to protect creators of this property (such as our mapping information) against theft or use in a way that would mean no return on their investment.
The level of legal protection offered to IP owners reflects the high priority given to encouraging creativity and investment within the European Union and internationally.”
OS have a ‘history’ of rigidly enforcing their own IP rights, and woe betide anyone who falls foul of them. Although I have to say that some of their activity can only be described as peculiar, and rather oddly implemented. Ask Andy Wightman, whose website ‘Who Owns Scotland’ fell foul of OS a few years ago. His is a strange tale that is worth considering (link) for it reveals, at best, a lack of joined-up thinking within OS:
There’s more and more of these ‘competitions’ appearing, but it fills me with dismay to see OS stooping to this level. I fail to see how this thinly disguised rights grab encourages anyone to be creative. Professional and amateur photographers across the UK are being ripped off to provide a cash surplus for OS that will simply be pocketed.
It’s immoral and its totally unacceptable. But, you may ask, why does this matter? And why do I care?
I work on a regular basis with photography students young and old, and with University students pursuing Degree courses in (natural history) image making. I meet many young people who are keen to make a career in photography and earn a living in the creative industries; these are committed individuals whose endeavours will contribute a great deal to the success of many UK businesses. They deserve the support of government, and government agencies such as OS. The small per-use payments hitherto made to licence individual map images from photographers might not seem like very much individually, but together they do matter, they trickle down through the economy, underpinning small businesses, and helping support communities.
OS has many intelligent people working for it. How difficult would it be to come up with some novel scheme that doesn’t financially penalise contributors but actually rewards them, doing precisely what its Corporate Responsibility statement promises, and which they acknowledge on their website:
Intellectual property
We are in the information business, and our income mainly depends on the exploitation of our intellectual property (IP). By using IP law to protect our mapping and topographic information, we are able to provide you with the benefit of up-to-date and new products.
The level of legal protection offered to IP owners reflects the high priority given to encouraging creativity and investment within the European Union and internationally.
OS could easily be innovative, devise schemes that support photography students and young people interested in the arts through properly funded creative opportunities that both respects their intellectual property rights and at the same time provides them with valuable learning opportunities about the business of IP, the importance of licensing and the whole quickly-evolving digital rights landscape.
Is that too much to ask of intelligent highly paid people working for and on behalf of citizens?
Author — John Macpherson
John MacPherson was born and lives in the Scottish Highlands. He trained as a welder in the Glasgow shipyards, before completing an apprenticeship as a carpenter, and then qualified as a Social Worker in Disability Services. Along the way he has cooked on canal barges, trained as an Alpine Ski Leader & worked as an Instructor for Skiers with disabilities, been a canoe instructor, and tutor of night classes in carpentry, stained glass design and manufacture, and archery. He has travelled extensively on various continents, undertaking solo trips by bicycle, or motorcycle. He has had narrow escapes from an ambush by terrorists, been hit by lightning, caught in an erupting volcano, trapped in a mobile home by a tornado, kidnapped by a dog's hairdresser, rammed by a basking shark and was once bitten by a wild otter. He has combined all this with professional photography, which he has practised for over 35 years. He teaches photography and acts as a photography guide & tutor in the UK and abroad. His biggest challenge is keeping his 30 year old Land Rover 110 on the road. He loves telling and hearing stories.
Discussion (2 Comments)
Good stuff, but you should know that following an uprising on social media they have substantially amended those rights-grabbing clauses. (Happened overnight). Clause 58 now says “By entering the Competition you grant to OS (and Ordnance Survey Leisure Limited), a non- exclusive, royalty free, worldwide, perpetual licence to publish your photo(s) on the OS Photofit website, our corporate website and social media websites (such as Facebook and Twitter), and otherwise use the photo, in connection with this Competition”.And Clause 59 says “In the event that your photo is one of the Competition winners, you further grant to OS and Ordnance Survey Leisure Limited a non-exclusive, royalty free, worldwide and perpetual licence to publish the photo(s) on the cover of any of its paper maps, on the OS website, in promotional materials and otherwise use the photo in connection with the business of OS. If your photo is appearing on one of our map covers, we assume that you will want your name to appear on the map cover to indicate that you are the photographer/copyright owner and by entering the Competition you agree that we can do this.”
I wouldn’t say this is brilliant even now but it does seem like a significant concession.
Thanks for pointing that out Jon. Had not seen any of the furore over it. Glad to hear it got some publicity. Their website was still showing the older T&Cs this morning when I screen-grabbed it. What a bunch of rogues they are.