There's Nothing Like Australia; closing date 12 May 2010
Closing Date 12 May 2010
TERMS AND CONDITIONS AT 20 APRIL 2010
11. By entering the Promotion, Eligible Entrants absolutely and unconditionally assign (and agree to use their best endeavours to procure any relevant third parties to absolutely and unconditionally assign) to the Promoter all right, title and interest in all intellectual property rights in their entry, including ownership of intellectual property rights in any photograph that forms part of an entry.
12. By entering the Promotion, Eligible Entrants acknowledge that their entry may be used by the Promoter, the Promoter's related entities, agencies engaged by the Promoter, or any other third party nominated by the Promoter, for the Promoter's current and future promotional and marketing purposes without further reference or compensation to them. Eligible Entrants unconditionally and irrevocably:
(a) consent to any act or omission that would otherwise infringe any of their moral rights in their entry (as defined in Part IX of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth)) and present and future rights of a similar nature conferred by statute anywhere in the world whether occurring before or after this consent is given (Moral Rights); and
(b) waive all Moral Rights in their entry that arise outside Australia.
The Promoter is listed in the terms as Tourism Australia.
HOW THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS AT 20 APRIL 2010 AFFECT YOU
We are lost for words to describe how we feel about the above terms and conditions as set by an agency of the Australian Government. Their terms and conditions remove all rights held by entrants, including copyright and moral rights. While the terms set by the Australian Government for this contest might be legal, they heap shame on those who drafted and approved them.
Not only is the Australian Goverment setting terms that nullify the rights that entrants have under Australian law, they are seeking to nullify via rule 12b) rights entrants enjoy under the laws of other countries.
As they say in the competition title "There's Nothing Like Australia", a most unfortunate choice of title.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS AT 18 MAY 2010
11. By entering the Promotion, Eligible Entrants grant Tourism Australia a non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, transferrable licence to use, reproduce, publish, modify, adapt, distribute, store, run, display, creative derivative works from, cause to be seen or heard and communicate to the public the entry (or including the photograph and text that forms part of the entry) in all media.
12. By entering the Promotion, Eligible Entrants acknowledge that their entry may be used by the Promoter, the Promoter's related entities, agencies engaged by the Promoter, or any other third party nominated by the Promoter, for the Promoter's current and future promotional and marketing purposes without further reference or compensation to them. Eligible Entrants unconditionally and irrevocably:
(a) consent to any act or omission that would otherwise infringe any of their moral rights in their entry (as defined in Part IX of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth)) and present and future rights of a similar nature conferred by statute anywhere in the world whether occurring before or after this consent is given (Moral Rights); and
(b) waive all Moral Rights in their entry that arise outside Australia.
HOW THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS AT 18 MAY 2010 WILL AFFECT YOU
On 18 May 2010 we recieved a letter from the Office of the Australian Minister for Tourism, The Hon Martin Ferguson AM MP. That letter indicated that Tourism Australia had revised the rules following feedback from Pro-Imaging and others.
Unfortunately, as you can see from the revised rules listed above, all they have done is to relinquish their claim for copyright. The new rules set by Tourism Australia still claim the right to use all the entrants submissions for ever, for any purpose they wish, freely, with no credit, and in any media. They still require all entrants to waive their moral rights, not only under Australian law, but such rights as they enjoy under the laws of other countries.
We are dismayed that the Australian Governments Tourism Department continue with their limitless greed for others intellectual property rights, even to the extent of attempting to nullify certain provisions of intellectual property laws in other countries. We leave it to the reader to consider what ethical principles Tourism Australia followed when drafting such terms and conditions.
The following summarise where the current T&C's fail to comply with the Bill of Rights.
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The terms and conditions require you to waive your moral rights. This means you will not be able to object to how your work is used in future, such as it being altered in a manner you may find derogatory, or if it is used to promote a product or cause you find objectionable. You have also lost your right to be credited as the author of your work.
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The terms and conditions do not state you will always be credited when your work is reproduced.
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The terms and conditions state that if you win, or are a potential winner, you are required to complete various additional forms, but the terms and conditions of these additional forms are not displayed on the competition or appeal website. This is like being asked to sign a blank cheque. It is not an acceptable business practice to require you to accept all the terms and conditions when submitting a work but fail to display all the terms and conditions that will ultimately apply.
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The terms and conditions are granting the organiser unlimited use of your work for ever. For non-winning works a usage time limit of 3 years or less should be set with usage limited solely to promoting the competition or appeal. Winning works can be used for ever but only in a permanent winners gallery with the sole purpose of promoting a recurring competition or appeal.
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The terms and conditions grant the organiser the right to use your work beyond that needed to promote the competition or appeal. Your work will be used for other purposes. Usage of your work should be restricted solely to promoting the competition or appeal. If the organisation wishes to use your work for any other purpose the organisation should negotiate with you independently of the competition. You should have the right to negotiate an appropriate fee for the specific use they want to make of your work and to set a time limit on such use. You should also have the right to refuse use of your work. For further information on fees and licensing refer to the Introduction to Rights and Licensing.
The above may help you to decide not to submit any works to this competition or appeal. For further guidance please read the Bill of Rights for Artists.
SPONSORS
None listed
CONTACT
To complain to the organiser use this contact form and mark it for the attention of the Chairman of Tourism Australia, Rick Allert AO.
The Minister responsible to for Tourism Australia is the Hon Martin Ferguson AM, MP He supports this organisation with over $137 million of public money. You can complain to him by using this email address;
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We submitted, in private, a copy of this report to the Minister responsible for Tourism Australia. This was submitted along with an email setting out the positive benefits of changing the terms and conditions of this competition and of becoming a member of the Bill of Rights Supporters Group. Our invitation to change the rules to comply with the Bill of Rights was declined by the Minister.
To visit the competition website click the competition title above to submit the free image we have created. Note that the competition link may cease to work at some point after the competition results are announced.
You can help the Bill of Rights campaign by complaining to the organiser urging them to change their terms and conditions. If time is at a premium for you we have prepared a complaint email which you can copy and send to the organiser. Alternatively, or as well as, you can submit the free image we have prepared to register your complaint simply by entering the free image to the contest.
Where a contest automatically displays entrants images on the contest website as they arrive the free image can also be used to test the competition and determine if it is stripping metadata. The test results can be submitted to a survey by the Controlled Vocabulary Group.
The Bill of Rights campaign depends on your active support, your help will make a difference.
Updated on 20 April 2010