Great Nature Photography Contest - www.sharetheexperience.org

Americans are invited to grab their cameras and head to our National Parks to capture the natural beauty of America in this year’s Federal Recreational Lands Share the Experience Photo Contest.

The 2007 Share the Experience Photo Contest runs through December 31, 2007, and showcases the more than 500 million acres of Federal Lands, drawing entries from all across the United States. Individuals who are legal residents of the fifty United States and at least 18 years of age can enter by submitting up to three photo entries online at www.sharetheexperience.org

GRAND PRIZE: A new 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid and a trip for four to a federal recreation land of the winner’s choice; a digital camera; an all-in-one photo printer; a Federal Recreational Lands annual pass; and the winning photograph displayed on the 2009 Federal Recreational Lands Pass

2nd Prize: A trip for two to a federal recreation land of the winner’s choice; a digital camera; a camera case; and a Federal Recreational Lands annual pass

3rd Prize: A trip for two to a federal recreation land of the winner’s choice; a digital camera; and a Federal Recreational Lands annual pass

As with all contests, read the fine print before entering. I found this in the rules for this contest: "Submission of an entry in this Contest constitutes entrant’s irrevocable assignment, conveyance, and transference to Sponsors of all right, title, and interest in the entry, including, without limitation, all copyrights."



-Paul

That probably doesn't constitute a legal copyright transfer in the US. See USC 17 204(a) which states:

A transfer of copyright ownership, other than by operation of law, is not valid unless an instrument of conveyance, or a note or memorandum of the transfer, is in writing and signed by the owner of the rights conveyed or such owner’s duly authorized agent.

Of course it would suck to have to go to court about it.

Cheers,

This smells like a scam in every possible way. The terms Paul listed above are extremely restrictive (note they apply to all entries, not just the winners so you will most likely end up giving up your rights and getting nothing in return).

Also, the site uses a ".org" extension, pretending to be a non-profit, but the link redirects to a different domain (and one would wonder why a non-profit is trying to harvest copyrights to images).

Lastly, they make you think they support or are affiliated with Federal agencies when in fact the only connection is the locations. At the bottom of the page it actually says "The Federal agencies and bureaus participating in the Share The Experience™ Photo Contest do not endorse the views, businesses, products or services of any other participating entity."

Personally I would stay far far away from this one.

Guy

It looks pretty much normal for a contest. The contestant grants the right for the contest organizer to use the work in promotional materials. The only strange item is that you cannot have submitted the photo in any other contest. The contest is mentioned on the front page of the BLM website (www.blm.gov), so there are legitimate ties to the government agencies who the organizers claim are the sponsors.

If it was run by a federal agency it would usually have a .gov domain, not a .org domain. But it is true that it actually routes to a .net domain.

There is conflicting language within their own rules.

Rules

Ownership/Use Rights

Contestants retain the copyright to their photographs, and all rights thereto, except as follows. Sponsors shall have the right to edit, adapt and publish any or all of the descriptions and/or photos submitted (collectively, the “Entries”), and may use them in any media in association with the Contest without attribution or compensation to the Contestant, his or her successors or assigns, or any other entity...

The rights one gives away if you submit a photo don't sound too good, BUT THIS IS A LEGITIMATE contest sponsored by the National Parks Foundation and Ford. This contest occurred last year, too. Here's a press release establishing its legitimacy:

http://www.peoplelandandwater.gov/workingwithamerica/blm_05-26-07_blm-site-winning.cfm

That's the great thing about the Internet - before you call something a scam, you can do a bit more research and find out what it's all about :)

I saw brochures regarding this contest in a National Park visitor center this week, so there is definitely affiliation with government agencies.

When someone registers to post an announcement (first post) about something on another site, it always raises a red flag for me. I saw this before it had any responses, visited the site in question and decided to let it stay...at least for a bit.

Hey, if you want the participation of some the best nature/outdoor photographers around, where would you post an announcement? FWIW, I won't be entering.

Rights grabbing contests are rampant in every sector of photography. I shoot a lot of concert work and there are as many of these horrible contests in the music industry as there are in the nature and travel industries. While the US Copyright Law says you have to convey copyrights in writing, it would be one interesting case to follow if someone entered the contest and then sued for copyright infringement. That would be an enormous, precedent setting case for all contests regarding intellectual property.

Nancy, "scam" refers to a deceptive act and there's enough here to qualify for deception and misleading in my opinion, regardless of who sponsors it. It's also worth mentioning that the National Parks Foundation is not the same as the National Parks Service and is not a government entity.

Are you saying that just because the sponsors are large corporate entities they are above deceiving the public to serve their interest?

Guy

Guy, I always enjoy reading your posts, mostly responses to lots of questions we all need help with. Thing is, I think "scam" is a very strong word and I'm suggesting before one uses that word on a public forum, one should know their facts. Lots of people on here (not me!), might want to enter a contest like this because they're not selling their stuff, don't care about that, and just love contests like this. I just don't want this forum to misdirect people about issues like this, that's all. I was and have been fine with the "warnings" about "read the contest rules before you give all of your rights away", but to call it a scam puts it in a whole other category.

By the way, I WAS suggesting that when Ford and the well-known National Park Foundation sponsor a contest, it does give it some level of credibility...but, that's all I was suggesting.

As a point of discussion, what is "deceptive" about the contest? As per previous posts, the rules state the implications of submitting a photo, how is that deceptive? The terms may not be acceptable to some photographers, but that does not make it deceptive. This contest has been going on for at least 5 years, and as mentioned under the Grand Prize, includes getting the photo on the National Parks Pass (now the Federal Recreational Lands annual pass) , which many of us buy. The National Park Foundation does have a relationship with the National Park Service, including putting the winners' photograph on the NPS pass. I have seen NPF literature at many National Parks, as Marc also noted above.

If you wish to enter the contest with full knowledge of the rules, with the possibility your photograph will be on the Pass or on National Park Foundation literature, then that is an individuals perogative. I for one would love to have one of my photographs on the Pass, and along with the rest of the Grand Prize would consider that ample "payment" for a photo. Just my opinion.

OK, perhaps I was overly harsh in my original comment. Still, when I'm directed to a ".org" site, I expect a not-for-profit organization to be the facilitator/beneficiary. It also saddens me a great deal that our public lands now have to rely on corporate sponsorship and cheap legal maneuvers to support their programs.

Guy

"It also saddens me a great deal that our public lands now have to rely on corporate sponsorship and cheap legal maneuvers to support their programs."

That saddens me as well Guy.

I entered this contest a number of years ago and was selected as a finalist. I do know at that time another company administered the contest for the National Park Foundation.