THE stipulations for the ongoing photography competition, organised  by the Public Relations Department of the United States Embassy in Georgetown under the theme ‘Gorgeous Guyana: Promoting Tourism in Guyana’, has sparked controversy. Consequently, a lively debate is continuing on the discussions forum of the Embassy’s Page on a social networking site.
The contest, which began on September 1, is open to any Guyanese resident, except employees of the Embassy and their immediate families and, according to the guidelines for children and adult categories, contestants may submit up to five digital images.
The prizes being offered include cameras and books on photography, with the adult awards being an underwater digital camera (first prize) and a flipcam camera (second prize). Children winners will get a digital camera as first prize and an iPod mini as second prize. In both categories, a photography book is the third prize.
Conditions for entry into the rivalry state that the Embassy reserves the right to use, reproduce, distribute and display all images submitted and that, by submitting an image, the participant agrees to give all rights, licences and permission to use it. The photos, like other images on the U.S. Embassy ‘Flickr’ site will be posted under ‘Creative Commons Licence’, which means that they can be re-used by any party
One blogger on the Embassy’s page expressed the opinion that it was unnecessary for the organisers to acquire all the rights of the photographer, contending that all that was necessary for the purpose was the right to display or use the photos in promotional materials.
The Embassy countered that the photo submissions would remain on the U.S. Embassy Flickr site for use by competitors in an upcoming website design competition. The diplomatic mission also said that all photos on that site, including those by award-winning journalist and professional photographers are IPR-free, available to all small businesses, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and anyone who wants to use them to promote Guyana.
Other concerns of bloggers included that it is unfair to contestants for the Embassy to acquire all the rights to the photos as it would be whether they won or not and only six persons would be compensated.
The Embassy responded that the purpose of the competition is to develop tourism and small business opportunities in Guyana.
It said: “The Embassy does not have money to buy photos to give to the small business community for promotion. We hope to provide materials to help the small business community through this competition.”
The last date for submissions in the competition is October 31 and public voting on the Flickr page community of the Embassy will take place between November 1 and November 15, to choose the 10 finalists in each images category. The winners will be identified November 19 and the ten finalists will be posted on the Facebook page and other publications of the Embassy.
The link to the embassy’s page is http://www.facebook.com/pages/Georgetown-Guyana/US-Embassy-Guyana-Public-Affairs/140708899279090