ON SUNDAY NIGHT, singer Taylor Swift penned an open letter to Apple condemning their decision to withhold artist royalties during the trial period of their new Apple Music streaming service.
By Monday morning, Apple had done a U-turn, saying they will pay artists even during the free trial period.
Praise was heaped on Swift for speaking out about the issue – but now a freelance photographer has accused Swift of “double standards”, saying she herself does not “play fair” when it comes to image rights.
In a blog post, UK-based photographer Jason Sheldon called the singer a “hypocrite”, pointing to the contract photographers must sign before taking photos at her concerts:
If you take points two and three in that contract, it appears to be a complete rights grab, and demands that you are entitled free and unlimited use of our work, worldwide, in perpetuity.
“If you don’t like being exploited, that’s great – make a huge statement about it, and you’ll have my support,” he said.
“But how about making sure you’re not guilty of the very same tactic before you have a pop at someone else?”
Swift’s spokespeople were quick to fire back at Sheldon, saying he had “misrepresented” their photo policy.
The standard photography agreement has been misrepresented in that it clearly states any photographer shooting the 1989 World Tour has the opportunity for further use of said photographs with management’s approval…
“The agreement does not transfer copyright away from the photographer.”
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