Coldplay is claiming the copyright of concert pictures taken by professional photographers, demanding complete ownership of the images, according to WebVivant, a British freelance photography site based in France. They write:
This is becoming all too common. Coldplay is just the latest in the line of high-profile bands who want to grab the rights to pictures taken of them in concert. If you're a professional photographer, you won't get a pass to take pictures of the band during their gigs unless you are accredited to a magazine. And even then, you'll need to sign an agreement that forces you to give away your pictures.
This is part of a larger trend, one that involves no small amount of hypocrisy. One the one hand, photographers' clients are reducing fees, using amateurs (so-called citizen journalists, micro-stock etc). There's a strong implication that the skills and artistic talent of photographers isn't worth much - certainly not as much as it used to be.
Read the full article at Webvivant and let us know your views at the Coldplay forum here [thanks Jenjie]
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