WITI-TV, MILWAUKEE -
When you take pictures of your cute little 3-year-old, you don't think twice about taking them to get developed. Will you after you see this story? We bet you never gave much thought to who owns your photo rights.
For some photography is a hobby, and for others it's a business. Like most professional photographers copyright rules are important to Liz Setterfield. That's why we wanted her take on photo policies from several chain stores.
Under terms and conditions and license and warranties on the CVS website it says "You grant to the website and its service providers and licenses a non-exclusive, royalty-free...to access, use, copy, reproduce without providing compensation to you or any other person." It appears that by uploading your digital photos, you give them the right to your photos to do whatever they want with them. The worst part is there's nothing you can do to stop it.
Besides CVS you'll find similar wording at Sam's Club, Wal-Mart, and Walgreens. All four stores declined to go on-camera, but sent statements saying they don't sell your pictures to third parties. They only need the rights to share them with anyone you select.
Marquette Professor Bruce Boyden believes the stores need to have these arguments. He says, "They need a blanket license to actually publish the photos on the internet." The wording can be confusing though.
Boyden does point out that the Sam's Club and CVS agreement are especially vague. "They can do anything with your photos they want, as long as it's in connection with the service somehow.", says Boyden.
Boyden feels more comfortable going to Wal-Mart or Walgreens. So realistically, what's the chances your photos will turn up somewhere? Bottom line, if it's important to you, take a moment to look into the stores policy before you do business.
If you've ever wondered who owns your photos, it's the person that took them. That person owns the copyright. Even if ti's you taking a picture of your cat with a throwaway camera.
Professor Bruce Boyden says there's no minimum skill level to a copyright if you took it, you own it.
Here are the various responses from the companies we mentioned in this story.
Sam's Club Member privacy is critical to Sam's Club. In addition to providing confirmation that members have the right to use or reproduce images, Sam's Club's Terms and Conditions are designed to allow Sam's Club to process orders and to allow members to share their photos online with others, provided the member authorization. When members submit media or film for processing, Sam's Club would not disclose, use or modify the related images for commercial purposes or any other purpose (unless required by applicable laws) without obtaining members' express permission.
Sam's Club 2101 SE Simple Savings Dr, Bentonville, AR 72716-0745
Walgreens Q: Specifically, it has come to our attention by a customer, that if a person shoots digital pictures and uses Walgreens to upload them--Walgreens then has the complete rights to those photos. Is this true? A: No. This limits Walgreens rights to "solely for the purpose of providing the service" of printing.
Q: Why do you have this policy? A: So we don't infringe on a customer's copyright by providing our photograph printing services to that customer. It is a right to copy, not an assignment of rights, and is limited to our provision of photograph printing services to that customer. There is nothing in our policy that would suggest a "complete right to photos" for Walgreens.
Q: Do you sell pictures to third parties that your customers take and develop through your photo department? A: No. Never.
Q: If so, who do you sell them to, how often and why? A: Not applicable.
Q: What are the pictures used for? A: Not applicable.
Q: Please tell us when this policy was put in place, as well. A: 2005
Q: Is there any recourse for the consumer? Or, once they "accept" the terms--by reading and understanding them, then uploading and printing, they've agreed to those terms? A: Yes. There is a recourse detailed in our policy.
Q: Or is there something for the consumer to sign? A: This is an electronic signature.
Q: We would like you to provide someone locally whom we can interview for this story. A: No thank you.
Wal-Mart Walmart.com's Photo Terms and Conditions was forwarded to me. The privacy of our customers is very important to us, and we would never share their photos without their permission. Our Terms of Use clearly state we will not use or modify content for marketing purposes or any other purposes without obtaining customers' express permission. Our rights to the photos are only for the purpose of displaying them to the people our customers select i.e., when they email or share a digital album or photos with friends and family and to fulfill orders. More information can be found here: http://photos2.walmart.com/termsofuse/#ownership
Thanks,
Ravi Jariwala
Spokesman, Walmart.com
CVS Pharmacy The terms and conditions that you reference on our website mean that the customer who is using our site is giving CVS the right to reproduce, store and/or print the images on their behalf. So the customer accepts the terms to release the rights to the photo(s) so that we are legally allowed to store them for the customer and print them on behalf of the customer. We do not sell of license any customer photos. We do not receive any revenue from customer photos. When a customer uses our website for images, they must be stored, replicated when files are backed up, and transmitted via the internet to the 3rd party that hosts our site and manages our file storage. (This company does not sell these images either.) Our Privacy Policy (also on the site) spells out that we do not otherwise share images unless required to do so by law.
For some photography is a hobby, and for others it's a business. Like most professional photographers copyright rules are important to Liz Setterfield. That's why we wanted her take on photo policies from several chain stores.
Under terms and conditions and license and warranties on the CVS website it says "You grant to the website and its service providers and licenses a non-exclusive, royalty-free...to access, use, copy, reproduce without providing compensation to you or any other person." It appears that by uploading your digital photos, you give them the right to your photos to do whatever they want with them. The worst part is there's nothing you can do to stop it.
Besides CVS you'll find similar wording at Sam's Club, Wal-Mart, and Walgreens. All four stores declined to go on-camera, but sent statements saying they don't sell your pictures to third parties. They only need the rights to share them with anyone you select.
Marquette Professor Bruce Boyden believes the stores need to have these arguments. He says, "They need a blanket license to actually publish the photos on the internet." The wording can be confusing though.
Boyden does point out that the Sam's Club and CVS agreement are especially vague. "They can do anything with your photos they want, as long as it's in connection with the service somehow.", says Boyden.
Boyden feels more comfortable going to Wal-Mart or Walgreens. So realistically, what's the chances your photos will turn up somewhere? Bottom line, if it's important to you, take a moment to look into the stores policy before you do business.
If you've ever wondered who owns your photos, it's the person that took them. That person owns the copyright. Even if ti's you taking a picture of your cat with a throwaway camera.
Professor Bruce Boyden says there's no minimum skill level to a copyright if you took it, you own it.
Here are the various responses from the companies we mentioned in this story.
Sam's Club Member privacy is critical to Sam's Club. In addition to providing confirmation that members have the right to use or reproduce images, Sam's Club's Terms and Conditions are designed to allow Sam's Club to process orders and to allow members to share their photos online with others, provided the member authorization. When members submit media or film for processing, Sam's Club would not disclose, use or modify the related images for commercial purposes or any other purpose (unless required by applicable laws) without obtaining members' express permission.
Sam's Club 2101 SE Simple Savings Dr, Bentonville, AR 72716-0745
Walgreens Q: Specifically, it has come to our attention by a customer, that if a person shoots digital pictures and uses Walgreens to upload them--Walgreens then has the complete rights to those photos. Is this true? A: No. This limits Walgreens rights to "solely for the purpose of providing the service" of printing.
Q: Why do you have this policy? A: So we don't infringe on a customer's copyright by providing our photograph printing services to that customer. It is a right to copy, not an assignment of rights, and is limited to our provision of photograph printing services to that customer. There is nothing in our policy that would suggest a "complete right to photos" for Walgreens.
Q: Do you sell pictures to third parties that your customers take and develop through your photo department? A: No. Never.
Q: If so, who do you sell them to, how often and why? A: Not applicable.
Q: What are the pictures used for? A: Not applicable.
Q: Please tell us when this policy was put in place, as well. A: 2005
Q: Is there any recourse for the consumer? Or, once they "accept" the terms--by reading and understanding them, then uploading and printing, they've agreed to those terms? A: Yes. There is a recourse detailed in our policy.
Q: Or is there something for the consumer to sign? A: This is an electronic signature.
Q: We would like you to provide someone locally whom we can interview for this story. A: No thank you.
Wal-Mart Walmart.com's Photo Terms and Conditions was forwarded to me. The privacy of our customers is very important to us, and we would never share their photos without their permission. Our Terms of Use clearly state we will not use or modify content for marketing purposes or any other purposes without obtaining customers' express permission. Our rights to the photos are only for the purpose of displaying them to the people our customers select i.e., when they email or share a digital album or photos with friends and family and to fulfill orders. More information can be found here: http://photos2.walmart.com/termsofuse/#ownership
Thanks,
Ravi Jariwala
Spokesman, Walmart.com
CVS Pharmacy The terms and conditions that you reference on our website mean that the customer who is using our site is giving CVS the right to reproduce, store and/or print the images on their behalf. So the customer accepts the terms to release the rights to the photo(s) so that we are legally allowed to store them for the customer and print them on behalf of the customer. We do not sell of license any customer photos. We do not receive any revenue from customer photos. When a customer uses our website for images, they must be stored, replicated when files are backed up, and transmitted via the internet to the 3rd party that hosts our site and manages our file storage. (This company does not sell these images either.) Our Privacy Policy (also on the site) spells out that we do not otherwise share images unless required to do so by law.
Digg
Twitter
Facebook
StumbleUpon
