A silent theft - Guardian's photo rights grab
The Guardian evidently thinks keeping mum is the best strategy in its 'negotiations' with freelance and contract photographers, as it hasn't communicated with them in two months (see page 4). But that doesn't mean it's ceased all activity. Instead it, and its sister Sunday publication The Observer, have stopped paying repro fees to some photographers.
The paper announced its unilateral decision to stop paying repro fees back in April, when it launched a new contract for its freelance photographers. Photo-graphers refused the new terms, which would have cut their revenues by up to 25% and represented a clear rights-grab - The Guardian effectively giving itself the unlimited right to use photographers' images as it pleased, without compensating the authors. Since then the photographers haven't heard a peep from the newspaper. The situation has got so bad the NUJ has advised them to threaten industrial action if they don't hear back soon.
Sadly, this isn't an isolated case - far from it. It's just the latest development in a long series of incidents affecting freelance photographers working for national and regional newspapers. The Sun and The Times, for example, have also cut fees on any image published in their editions. The newspapers are blaming the recession for the changes, but I wonder whether the cuts will be rescinded once the economy picks up. Somehow I doubt it.
Olivier Laurent, News editor.
