Win a DSLR through national park photo contest

swintonphoto

I thought I would pass this info along - especially considering the recent dgrin shootout. The National Park Foundation and Olympus are both sponsoring a photo contest of images taken in any Federal Recreation Lands. Images can be shot with ANY camera (doesn't have to be an Olympus), and the grand prize is an Olympus E-3 and a trip to a National Park. Runners up can win one of the following cameras: E-520, SP-570 UZ, Stylus 1030 SW or Stylus 850 SW.

Here is a link to the contest: http://www.olympusamerica.com/oai_ourcompany.asp?layer=yes

I figured there would be a lot of great images from some of the recent shootouts that would qualify for this! Good luck everyone! (p.s. if you win an E-3 I require that you send it to me as commission for telling you about the contest :rofl)

Tango

i will get to it! getting that cover shot would be sooooo cooool !!!

(and a new camera too!)

Llywellyn

Sounds cool, but I don't like this part of their fine print under "How to Enter":

For All Entries: Sponsors and Federal Land Management Agencies (Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) shall have the right to edit, adapt, and publish any or all of the one hundred twenty-five (125) Finalist photos (as defined below) submitted, and may use them in any media without compensation to the Contestant, his or her successors or assigns, or any other entity. Submission of an Entry in this Contest constitutes Contestant's irrevocable assignment, conveyance, and transference to Sponsors of all right, title, and interest in the Entry, including, without limitation, all copyrights.

Later, though, under "Ownership/Use Rights," they claim something a little different:

Contestants retain the copyright to their photographs, and all rights thereto, except as follows. By virtue of a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual license for the photographs granted by the Contestants to the Sponsors and Federal Agencies, Sponsors and Federal Agencies shall have the right to edit, adapt and publish any or all of the descriptions and/or photographs submitted (collectively, the "Entries"), and may use them in any media in association with the Contest without compensation to the Contestant, his or her successors or assigns, or any other entity.

I wonder which is correct? Or if I'm misinterpreting the legalese?

achambers

Hmmm, it does sound a little contradictory, doesn't it.

swintonphoto

This is similar to how I word my contracts regarding when people purchase the digital files. Basically what this means is that you allow them to do what they want with the pictures, but, you also retain the right to do what you want with them. You are not handing the rights over so that you are not able to use the pix anymore. It's like when people purchase the negatives, I retain copyright as well so I can use the images for advertising etc.

Most photo contests where the winners images are going to be used for promotional purposes have language such as this. Keep in mind the winners will have their images on tickets and other promo materials for the parks. I think that's pretty neat! As much as I love and protect my copyright, 99.9% of the artistic images I create don't yield any sort of $$$ from, so, I don't mind.

VisualXpressions

I have seen a lot of these contests cropping up... Seems to be a great way for enteties and organizations to get a bunch of free stock images... I have seen a bunch of magazine photo contests exactly like this one... Not a bad deal for the winner I supose, but for all those other great shots entered... they can be used for whatever purpose without even as much as a by line... It's a great gimick for getting hundreds or thousands of stock advertising and promotional images for the price of setting up an running a contest...

Winston