Conscience Camera Award 2009
BASF Petronas Chemicals is presenting its Conscience Camera Award to a photographer with a conscience for the third consecutive year. The theme this year is Chemistry In Our Life. The closing date is 30th September 2009.
Do feel free to view the last year’s winning pictures here.
Check out its website here for details.
It is a great pleasure to see more corporate bodies, one after another, come up with photography contest. It is an encouraging move considering photography as a hobby is now gaining popularity among ordinary people. Photography is no longer esoteric that used to be enjoyed only by a limited group of hobbyists thanks to the advent of digital photography.
However it is not so pleasant when you read its rules and regulations. For this contest its Rules & Regulations at No. 5 states that:
“Photographs submitted are not returnable and shall remain the property of BASF PETRONAS Chemicals. The copyright of the image(s) remain with the photographer. By submitting the photograph for this competition, BASF PETRONAS Chemicals reserve the absolute rights to reproduce, publicize or exhibit the photographs in whatever form or medium, without notification or payment to the photographers. The owner of winning photographs shall grant full and exclusive copyright of their winning photos to BASF PETRONAS Chemicals Sdn Bhd.”
I am perplexed why on earth we have to surrender our precious photographic works to any profit-making private company just because we participate in the contest organised by them. And much worse, if you win this contest you even have to surrender your full and exclusive copyright to BASF PETRONAS Chemicals Sdn Bhd – the organizer and the sponsor of this contest.
So before you participate please think carefully and consider all aspects and the impacts. I never intend to discourage you from participating in the contest. The photos is yours and you have all the rights whether or not to participate and subject yourself to this type of terms and conditions. The decision is all yours.
Personally, in my humble opinion, I can still compromise if the organizer is a government body, NGO’s or non-profit organization who come up with the rules and regulations above. But for a profit-making private company such act is tantamount to unscrupulously collecting good pictures in large quantities at a very low cost.
I would like to suggest to BASF PETRONAS Chemicals Sdn Bhd that the rules and regulations be revised and improved to benefit photographers more if BASF PETRONAS Chemicals is really sincere in contributing to the development of photography in Malaysia.
It looks like BASF PETRONAS Chemicals should have a clear conscience first before deciding to award the photographers with Conscience Camera Award 2009.
Gino,
What I wrote in my blog is my own personal opinion and i have every right to my own photograph whether I want to enter the competetion or otherwise. And for others they are free to do whatever they like with their own photos. You dont need to justify the action of a profit-making private company. Comparing with CIMB Foundation as I mentioned earlier I can still compromise if the body organizing the photo contest is a non-profit organization or govt agency. And CIMB Foundation is a non-profit organization and is organizing the contest to help the community project.
Who is Gino actually? Why did you come to BASF Petronas Chemicals’ defence? Are you representing its board of directors or its management? If that’s so why didn’t you publish your real name instead of hiding behind a pseudonym?
Just check the CIMB Foundation Photography Contest. They have similar rules as listed below:
Copyright of all images submitted for this competition shall be irrevocably granted to CIMB Foundation and their respective successors, licensees and assign the right in perpetuity to use, re-use, publish, and re-publish, and otherwise reproduce, modify and display, the photographs, and any text and information that is submitted, and name and likeness and the name and likeness of the persons depicted in the submitted photographs, in whole or in part, in connection with the photographs.
b) In consideration of providing any image and or any text for the Contest, each contestant grants a worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual license to CIMB Foundation to feature any or all of the submitted images in any of their publications, their websites and/or in any promotional material connected to this contest.
c) The owners of winning photographs shall grant the copyright of their winning photographs to CIMB Foundation, their respective successors, licensees and assigns the rights granted in this terms and conditions on behalf of the photographer and/or the persons depicted in the photographs.
We all have an informed choices as the rules and regulations are clearly published.I personally have not entered a photo competition where the non-winning entries are returned. Have you? The rules and regulations, you have highlighted is common in most photography competition.