Coldplay’s photo contracts
Thursday, March 19th, 2009
The British rock band Coldplay’s management has decided to change the rules by which the band is photographed essentially hogging all rites to all photographs. If photographers don’t adhere to the new contract they’re not allowed access to the band. A number of high profile rock photographers are rebelling and writing new contracts and no doubt they’re hoping the band will get the message.
As a photographer I would recommend a boycott of their music until they get the message (picture).
[via Dale Allyn]
Rights grabs from musicians or their management is not something that is exclusive to Coldplay. You’ll see rights grabs in almost every photo pass contract from Ryan Adams to Joe Satriani. It’s pretty much standard practice to cross out and rewrite contracts before signing or to simply negotiate a new, completely different, contract (for the people doing it regularly anyway). When you do try to protect your work by changing contracts, there is always a chance you will show up and not have a pass waiting for you, but at the end of the night you still own your photos. I think the music industry might even be worse than the real estate industry when it comes to greed…
My opinion is that Coldplay is the Aha of our generation. I think a boycott of their music is a good idea, whatever the reason behind it.
Ruan: funny. I don’t know who Aha or Coldplay are but that’s of little consequence, I just want to support photographers who work for magazines and need access to the band for editorial work.