The Joy of Working for Nothing
Most of us will have enjoyed a Charles Dickens story through reading his books or seeing them portrayed in a film or TV drama. Dickens created a wonderful cast of unforgettable characters. They were bound up in stories that frequently touched on the injustices in contemporary society and highlighted the appalling poverty suffered by people in its lower strata. His books have never been out of print, a fact that is popular with publishers. The Random House Group, the largest general-interest trade publisher in the world according to Wikipedia, are planning to publish a new edition of Oliver Twist and for that they need a new cover photograph.
The Workhouse 'Competition'
Instead of commissioning a photographer to create the image they need Random House decided to launch a competition. However, Random House are not the promoters of the competition, it is being promoted by Guardian News & Media Ltd (GNM) through the Guardian website.
The competition offers no prize, nor will Random House Group pay the photographer for the use of their work. The 'winner' has to waive their moral rights and to grant GNM and the Random House Group Ltd the following -
a non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual licence (with a right to sub-license), to use, republish, edit and/or modify your Competition entry in any/all media (including in electronic format and hard copy) for purposes connected with the Competition and as described in these terms and conditions;
It would seem that Random House Group have adopted the long discredited workhouse economic model that Oliver Twist suffered and are now asking people to work for nothing.
Guardian Camera Club
The launch of this 'competition' resulted in a discussion of its terms on the Guardian Camera Club's Flickr page. One of the commentators said " 'ere - looks like these geezers ain't arf pullin' a fast one, dunnit?" and then he went on to complain about the publisher getting a photo for nothing.
Following comments by several other members of this group the Guardian Administrator intervened to issue this statement -
a) a publisher gets a cover photo for nothing
b) the photographer has the joy of getting his/her picture on a book jacket
c) the photographer has retained the rights to sell it elsewhere
That's very helpful indeed, we now know that the prize is "joy". However, this statement fails to explain that the photographer has lost his exclusive rights and is being exploited to obtain free creativity. There is no honour, distinction, or joy in 'winning' this type of 'competition'. Shame on the Guardian for promoting the Random House Group's workhouse competition.
Judging the Joyous Occasion
The judges will include Simon Callow, professional photographer Simon Larbalestier and Random House Creative Director Suzanne Dean.
If you wish to complain you will find contact details in the respective Rights Off Reports for Guardian News and Media and the Random House Group.
Update - Judge Resigns
One of the judges has resigned, for the latest news read the continuation of this .
