BBC Hanging Committee: Waive Your Moral Rights
In conjunction with Lucky Day Productions, part of the Zodiak Media Group, BBC Two has commissioned a new 10 part series of 'Show Me the Monet'. This contest will follow the fortunes of artists from the UK as they compete for a place at the 'Show Me the Monet' exhibition which will be held at the Royal College of Art in London. The works will be for sale at the exhibition, where, according to the Lucky Day Productions blurb, members of the public and art world can bid to buy the works.
NB! Due to discussions with Lucky Day Productions most of the complaints raised in this story have been resolved. The current situation can be read in the report entitled .
The Hanging Committee
To win a spot at the exhibition artists must first face the BBC Hanging Committee judges, and be prepared to waive their moral rights. It is intended that approximately 150 artists will be selected.
The program will be presented by Chris Hollins, a TV sports presenter, a surprising choice for an arts program. The hanging committee judges are -
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Charlotte Mullins; art historian, critic, broadcaster, and is currently completing her PhD.
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David Lee; art critic and historian. He is currently editor of the satirical art magazine The Jackdaw.
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Roy Bolton; art historian and dealer, working for Christie's auction house in London
Artists - How this Contest affects your Rights
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The terms and conditions require you to waive your copyright. This is invalid in UK law, it is not possible to waive copyright. It is possible to transfer (i.e. assign) your copyright to another person or organisation, but you cannot be asked to 'waive your copyright'. It is suprising that the BBC would make such a basic error. Artists should never enter competitions when the terms and conditions are invalid in law. The BBC have added an explanatory note about 'waiving copyright' as follows; Please note that this will not mean that we own the Copyright in the Work itself but will mean that we are free to reproduce it in, and in connection with, the Programme without further payment or acknowledgement to the Artist. You may wish to consult a lawyer about this, we suspect the BBC didn't.
UPDATE 14 Dec 2011; 'Show me the Monet' no longer asks artists to 'waive their copyright', we thank the production company for correcting this statement. This requirement is replaced with a non-exclusive license, in perpetuity, for all artists who enter this contest. This is still unacceptable, see point 4 below.
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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 reproduced by the BBC in future, such as it being altered in a manner you may find derogatory, or if it was used in a context you find objectionable. You have also lost your right to be credited as the author of your work, which for an artist should be an absolute and unwaivable right. It is astonishing, shocking even, that the BBC, in creating a program to promote artists and their works, should seek to undermine that most fundamental right of artists - the right to be acknowledged as the author of their works.
UPDATE 19 Dec 2011; It has not yet been possible to reach agreement on this point, that artists should not be asked to waive their moral rights. -
The terms and conditions state that if you are invited to attend before the hanging committee you are required to complete various additional forms (rules 4.1 and rules 5.4), but the terms and conditions of these additional forms (or the rights they require) are not displayed on the competition 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 on documents you may at some stage have to complete and sign.
UPDATE 19 Dec 2011; The terms and conditions have been changed to make clear that these additional forms require no further grant of rights other than those set out in rule 1.10. We thank Lucky Day Productions Ltd for making this change which removes the concerns we expressed in paragraph 3. -
The terms and conditions are granting the organiser rights of reproduction of your work for ever whether or not your work is selected for the exhibition. This is too broad a license and is not acceptable. The right to reproduce works should be time limited, say two or three years, upon expiry of which the artist regains the full and exclusive rights they had prior to entering this contest. The perpetual license that the BBC requires would, for example, for ever preclude a photographer from negotiating an exclusive license for use of their work with another organisation. The BBC do not need a perpetual right to reproduce the work in order to promote series two of 'Show Me the Money'. Should they need such an extended right for a specific work for a specific purpose the BBC should negotiate a fee with the artist for the additional rights they need.
UPDATE 19 Dec 2011; There have been discussions about this rule with the production company. It was suggested that they only need perpetual rights for the 'winners'; that such a license would comply with the exception made in Artists' Bill of Rights for winners, and the non-winning entrants need grant no rights. It has not yet been possible to reach agreement on this point.
Conclusions
We recommend that before entering this contest artists contact the BBC and ask them to adjust their terms and conditions to meet the criticisms set out in points 2 and 4 above.
Contact details for any complaint you wish to make are contained in the BBC Rights Off Report where will be found further details concerning this competition.
