I'm going to be attending an anime convention here in Melbourne, Australia next month, and I just registered. On their registration page (
http://www.eventoffice.com.au/forms/...p?eventid=1661 ) they mention their "Terms of Conduct" (which they don't actually reference or link to - so I don't think it's legally enforcable for that reason anyway). A friend found the link to the terms here:
http://www.manifest.org.au/policies/...0of%20Sale.pdf
The fourth point of their terms states as follows:
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4. Cameras, audio and video recorders are permitted, however Manifest claims all rights pertaining to commercial use of all audio and video recordings, as well as photography.
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I'm not an expert on Australian copyright and intellectual property law, but I didn't think it was legal to sign away "all rights" to creative works in such a way. I think they're setting themselves up for a lot of legal trouble.
Point 23 states:
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23. By attending a Manifest event, you agree to possibly being filmed or photographed and that resulting footage to be used in future promotional activities related to Manifest.
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This point does not ask for permission for commercial use of images of attendees, and as such isn't a model release. That puts points 4 and 23 in conflict with each other.
The main reason I ask is that I am a long-time attendee of this convention, and I have taken photos there every year. I have a reputation as one of the best, and most trusted convention photographers there. This year I want to negotiate a press pass of some kind in order to get access to the best vantage points in order to cover the convention - in particular, the always filled to capacity costume contest. I intended to offer the free use of my photos for the promotion of the convention only, as I have done in all years previous.
However, if they claim all rights for the use of my (and everyone else's) photos, then I have nothing to offer. Also, I am very reluctant to shoot anything at all, when their terms seem to allow them to effectively steal my work. This condition is a new addition to their terms.
The convention is in just one month, and my request for a press pass must be submitted within two days, so I would very much appreciate your thoughts and opinion as soon as possible. My apologies for asking for help on such short notice, but the rgistration, and thus terms, were only very recently made available online.
Thank you in advance!
Update: Another friend, who is on the convention committee says: "the keyword in the clause is 'commercial'. Provided you don't sell or make any profit from the photos, it should be classed as 'personnal' use and that is not covered in the clasues"
That doesn't seem much better to me, I would like to sell prints of these photos to the people in them. But for everyone else, I still think the term can be read as "we can sell your photos". And I think if it can be interpreted that way it COULD be interpreted that way.