A while ago, I was contacted by an agency representing Frommer’s, an august name in travel publishing, to provide photos of Philadelphia for a guidebook. I had the depth and volume of photographs they needed, and it was winter and they were in a hurry, so shooting the thing would be difficult. The rates for the photos were the new dismal normal, but the volume sale of existing images would have made it worth it.

Worth it, that is to say, had they not wanted more rights….like the rights to use the pictures in a variety of their publications, and license the pictures to others in perpetuity.  They didn’t ask for the copyright, they just wanted all the rights that copyright affords the creator. In other words, they wanted to own them and they wanted to pay $70 a  subject ( and a subject could include up to 5 photos) to do so.

But, there was a “bonus” fee for any photograph published as a “feature,”  up to $675 for a full page. So if there were larger pictures in spreads or “features” as they were referred to in the contract, they’d pay more, but basically it was $70 a subject for all rights.

I told them it was “one time use” at those rates, or nothing. They decided that they couldn’t live with that, and I walked.

Then, a little while ago, I heard from a young colleague who actually shot a similar book for them in the Middle East. She photographed the whole book, handed it in, got the layouts which had many of the big pictures and “feature” spreads, and waited for her check. Which, when it arrived, was much lower than provided for by the contract because Frommer’s all of a sudden decided that “feature” means “cover” and that no inside picture usage was worth more than $70.

Last I heard, they were going to court. A mega-publisher against a fresh-faced freelancer in a battle of lawyers….hmmmnn, wonder if they thought she might be naive and back down in the face of all that firepower. Think again.

I guess when you put life and limb on the line to document civil unrest, war, and violence while covering the Middle East like she does, a few suits from Hoboken with Ivy League law degrees are just not that scary.

And, in the spirit of three strikes and yer out, I just heard from another colleague about a photo contest Frommer’s is running….probably because of the problems they’re running into screwing the photographers they signed to work with. You can win $5000 and get your photo on the cover of one of their guidebooks. Sounds like a cool contest, until you read the fine print:

Participant retains ownership of the copyright in any submitted photographs. However, by entering photograph(s) in this Contest, participant grants Sponsor the irrevocable, perpetual right to edit, adapt, use and publish in any media now known or hereafter discovered any or all of the photographs without compensation to the participant, his or her successors or assigns, or any other entity. ENTERING A SUBMISSION IN THIS CONTEST CONSTITUTES PARTICIPANT’S IRREVOCABLE ASSIGNMENT, CONVEYANCE, AND TRANSFERENCE TO SPONSOR OF THE FOREGOING RIGHTS.

Yeah, um, you didn’t win, and sure you “own” the photos, except that we’re going to use your photos in perpetuity for nothing, (so screw you and your sense of what ownership or copyright means!)

Apparently Frommer’s is expanding its field of operations  from screwing professionals to duping amateurs, and they are doing both with energy, audacity, and an astounding lack of scruples (way to use your law degrees, guys. Keep burying that shit in the fine print—-who reads anymore anyway? After you finish up with the photographers, there’s always taking candy from babies and foreclosing on disabled veterans to look forward to!).

I think it would be wise to boycott this contest, and boycott Frommers guidebooks or travel products entirely, and let everybody within earshot or “webshot” know that this is another rights grab in sheep’s clothing.