Comments on: 2009 Costco International Photo Contest

By: 2010 Costco International Photo Contest | Addicted To Costco!

2010 Costco International Photo Contest | Addicted To Costco! — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 10:02:14 +0000

[...] stated that they would retain all ownership of your photo once submitted. And there were at least a couple of comments here about what a rip off it was that Costco would do this. I guess they decided that that [...]

By: JT

JT — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:43:55 +0000

I agree, this is standard photography contest rules. Remember, you DON’T HAVE to participate. It’s optional. If you don’t want to give up rights to a shot, don’t enter. Geez, for those of us that might want to enter to win, it’s a small sacrifice.

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:35:17 +0000

I feel the same as Ian: it’s a ripoff. For them to be able to use the photo in their promotional materials, they need only insist you give them a non-exclusive, irrevocable right to use the photo in any manner they deem necessary. They don’t need to insist that you give up all IP to your own photo. This clause is the reason I’ve never even considered sending them any of my own vacation photos. It doesn’t matter if they won’t come after me as I’ll now its no longer my photo to use.

By: Kimberly

Kimberly — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:03:14 +0000

This is very standard stuff for any and all photo contests that I have entered or seen. I doubt if you are not chosen as the winner though, that they will ever come after you. I think this is mainly so that they can keep publishing the pictures and using them in promotional materials without having to pay anyone.

But yeah, if it bothers you or you don’t want to risk losing the rights to your photo, I definitely would not enter.

By: Ian Joseph

Ian Joseph — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:52:59 +0000

This is just one huge ripoff by Costco. Read the competition rules.

Rules number 9 and 10 (in very fine print) state:
9. All entries become the property of Costco.
10. By participating, entrant agrees that ownership of the entry and all intellectual property rights in the entry is assigned to Costco, and will do all things necessary to give effect to that assignment. Entrant agrees to sign any further documentation required by Costco to give effect to this clause.

What this means is that if you enter a picture it become sthe property of Costco. You may not use that picture for anything in the future, you may not post it on Face Book or my space without infringing Costco’s ownership of it. You may not print a copy and give it to a friend or put it in your picture album as Costco now own it. Costco will be able to use your picture for ANYTHING they want to. And you will not be recompensed or paid 1c for this unless you are one of the three winners who do not even get cash but a Costco voucher.

Nikon is also a sponsor, in fact Nikon is the only corporate sponsor whose logo appears in the contest ad in the Costco magazine. I personally believe that Nikon USA should not lend their name to blatant intellectual rights grabs disguised as competitions.