The Stone Roses face photographers’ boycott at Heaton Park

The Stone Roses are facing a boycott from photographers at tonight’s Heaton Park show due to what they believe to be unfair contracts issued by the band’s management, CMU has reported.

According to the BBC, the initial contract stated that professional photographers working at the shows sign all rights in the photographs they take over to the band for a sum of £1, and accept limits as to how they could use the images. And, while a revised contract was put forward on Monday, the disgruntled photographers remain angry at the conditions.

Long-serving Stone Roses photographer Ian Tilton told the BBC that he was fully behind the boycott: “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.”

However, The Stone Roses’ press officer Murray Chalmers countered such claims of a boycott, telling the BBC: “There is no boycott. We have a complete list, a full quota of photographers who are covering the concerts.”

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