IPC:
Insist on
Photo
Copyright

IPC is willing to respect photographers' copyright after all, apparently. In early July the UK's largest magazine publisher, now owned by AOL-TimeWarner, issued a contract demanding the right to re-use photos without compensating the photographer. But on 29 July Freelance Organiser John Toner asked IPC Intellectual Property Manager Mark Winterton the thorny question: will a freelance who refused to assign all rights be denied future work from IPC? His answer: "No".

In a flurry of largely online organising, photographers had already unearthed four more and better contracts, in addition to the one, er, "offered". And IPC Chief Executive Officer Sly Bailey had protested that everyone had been fussing over nothing, the letters were nothing more than an administrative exercise to tidy things up at AOL Time Warner's behest.

So that's nice. You can get a blow-by-blow account and a response to the offered contract from www.epuk.org - and if you do find that it's harder than it used to be to license pictures to IP in the normal way, contact John Toner at Headland House.

The draft letter of response is at www.epuk.org/news/2002/07/08ipc3.html.

Coverage from EPUK

As Freelance Organiser John Toner responded:

IPC is a major source of work for thousands of journalists and their insistence on all rights is a serious threat to the livelihoods of many freelances. We simply cannot allow such an appalling contract to go unchallenged. I am seeking a meeting with the company to try discuss alternatives.

IPC seem to have bottled out of that meeting for the moment, however, as indicated below.

IPC Cancel Contract Talks

Surprised?

IPC Media, Britain's largest magazine publishers, have cancelled talks scheduled with photographers' representatives over the company's proposed new contributors' contract.

www.epuk.org/news/2002/07/23ipc1.html

Five Clause Trick - IPC's Secret Contracts

After last week's rumpus over IPC's new Core Contributors' Agreement comes the intriguing news that the company has not one contract on offer, but five.

www.epuk.org/news/2002/07/23ipc2.html

Five Secret IPC Contracts

That IPC Memo in full

"IPC Media acquires copyright This is the preferred rights category where the commissioned content has re-use value."

www.epuk.org/news/2002/07/23ipc3.html

IPC Reply

You got it all wrong:

"This is merely a tidying-up exercise in line with AOL Time Warner's requirements."

www.epuk.org/news/2002/07/23ipc4.html

NUJ & AoP Ask More Questions

"Ms Bailey's four-paragraph letter contains more questions than answers and we would have liked the opportunity to pose the questions directly."

www.epuk.org/news/2002/07/23ipc5.html

Please forward this information to anyone you think interested.

© 2002 EPUK - Editorial Photographers UK & Ireland