And Finally Artist News Beef Of The Week

CMU Beef Of The Week #116: Photographers v The Stone Roses

By | Published on Friday 29 June 2012

The Stone Roses

The Stone Roses reunion gets underway properly tonight with the first of the band’s big Heaton Park show in Manchester. But will there be any evidence of this after the fact? A group of photographers have announced that they are boycotting the shows due to what they say are unfair contracts issued by the band’s management.

According to the BBC, the original contract demanded that professional photographers documenting the shows sign all rights in the photos they take over to the band for a sum of £1, and accept limits on what they could then do with their pictures. A revised contract was submitted on Monday, though this has seemingly not placated the angry photographers.

Ian Tilton, who has photographed the band throughout their career, including for album artwork, told the BBC that he supported the boycott, saying: “I understand that the Stone Roses want to make money from the pictures. But I don’t agree that the photographers can only use the pictures once, for one publication. The photographers should be allowed to earn money from the pictures they take”.

John Toner, who represents freelancers at the National Union Of Journalists, added: “Too many musical artistes now wish to grab rights from photographers. Having said that, people are surprised that The Stone Roses have chosen to go down this route. We fully understand why a band would wish to retain merchandising rights, and the photographers would be happy to concede this. Equally, a photographer must have the right to license editorial use of images without obtaining the band’s permission for each use”.

So, there you go. If you’re not going, then you’ll never see it. There will be no pictures. None. Not even one. Except all the shitty wobbly ones people will be tweeting. Oh, except what’s that you say, Murray Chalmers?

Asked for comment by the Beeb, the band’s press officer Chalmers said: “There is no boycott”. And before you say, ‘but it does sound quite a lot like there is one, he added: “We have a complete list, a full quota of photographers who are covering the concerts”.



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