I was just about to go off to Barrie’s Winter WindFest to take pictures there. WindFest features all sorts of iceboats, kites, and wind riders taking advantage of the ice on Lake Simcoe that has been generously applied this bitterly cold February. But as I was looking for directions I stumbled across this notice:
Media (Promotional Rights): All media taken at this event are property of Canadian Wind Rider Inc. and cannot be used for commercial purposes unless authorized by Canadian Wind Rider. Please contact us @ 416.497.wind (9463) for commercial permission to use media.
Now my images and pictures are par for the course and I might be inclined to use some for my PixofCanada.com website. But to have to ask “permisso” for any use of the images that might smack of commercial use – this is where I draw the line.
However, I (and maybe you, too) may be drawing the line way too late in the game. Recently I went to an Toronto Argonauts game in the SkyDome which I helped pay for to the tune of $120M in tax dollars and was told that the SLR camera I had with me was forbidden. Same with the Canadian National Ballet in the new Opera and Dance House heavily subsidized with taxpayers funding. In short, the public is paying increasingly large sums for private institutions and facilities which then either control all permissions and/or charge rent for any and all uses of the facility including any rights to take media images at events there.
Particularly galling in the WindFest case – when did Lake Simcoe become private property?
(c)JBSurveyer 2007 – If you liked this, let others know:
