(The following is an opinion piece submitted by guest blogger, Elspeth Rushbrook.)

On being asked to choose between unpalatable terms and privacy laws
and receiving your dues

This matter comes up in more than just artist related issues, but I’ve most recently encountered it in collecting royalties.

Whatever kind of artist we are – whether visual, or creating in another way – royalties are much of our lifeblood. I recently received payment for a share of general royalties, just for being in the scheme.

I applied to join the UK Design and Artists’ Copyright Scheme, where you gain royalties for the use of your artwork – in magazines, on television, for designing a book cover...

My issues with DACS were several.

Illegal cookies: this is too prevalent. A banner on a website which says: ‘by continuing, you accept’ is wrong. We have been given no meaningful opt out. Some even say – ‘cookies have already been set, just by your landing here. Even if you leave immediately (I often do) we’re still tracking you’.

A summer spent focussing on a single subject has secured the title of Scottish Nature Photographer of the Year 2018 for Edinburgh photographer Phil Johnston.

Phil's winning image Roe Kid Flower was captured during the summer of 2018 while he worked solely on photographing a family of Roe Deer close to his home.

Roe Kid Flower © Phil Johnston

Phil said:

“I love nothing more than being out in the sticks with my camera, seeing all the beauty that surrounds me and trying my best to capture those moments in time.

(Entries close 23.59 (GMT) on 28th February 2019)

Photographing a trooping funnel mushroom or grizzled skipper butterfly could win you £1,000 cash and more than £1,200 worth of SIGMA camera equipment in the first ever Close-up Photographer of the Year competition (CUPOTY), which closes on 28th February.

CUPOTY is seeking close-up, macro and micro photographs that help us see the world anew by revealing the often overlooked details of animals, plants, natural materials, and objects.

Categories

There are five categories to enter: Animals, Plants & fungi, Intimate landscape, Manmade and Micro (for images captured with a microscope), as well as Young CUPOTY (for entrants aged 17 and under). The competition is open to all, and entrants have until 23.59 (GMT) on 28th February 2019 to enter the competition via the website: www.cupoty.com.

Logo by Van Cols Ltd

When Apple makes a move, the world notices. Such is the power of a near-trillion dollar company.

It didn't take long for the photographic community to notice something was amiss with Apple's initial announcement of its 2019 "Shot on iPhone" Challenge whose terms required winning entries to be assigned to Apple for exclusive use for the duration of that work's copyright.

Apple responded by adding additional language in a press release of Jan. 22, 2019:

"Apple believes strongly that artists should be compensated for their work. Photographers who shoot the final 10 winning photos will receive a licensing fee for use of such photos on billboards and other Apple marketing channels."
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/01/share-your-best-photos-shot-on-iphone/

The photo press announced the Apple "fix" but for us the confusion continued.

For instance, the sentence preceeding the above quote, while still referring to non-exclusive usage for non-winners, states:

"If your photo is selected to be featured on a billboard, you further agree to grant Apple exclusive commercial use of the photo for the life of the license."