In his open letter published Monday, photographer Jason Sheldon from the UK writes that in order to photograph Swift in 2011 he had to sign away the rights to some of his images, giving Swift’s management long-term rights to reuse them but handcuffing his own use beyond initial publication.[blockquote cite=”Jason Sheldon” type=”left”]”You say in your letter to Apple that “Three months is a long time to go unpaid.” But you seem happy to restrict us to being paid once, and never being able to earn from our work ever again, while granting you the rights to exploit our work for your benefit for all eternity. How are you any different to Apple? If you don’t like being exploited, that’s great — make a huge statement about it, and you’ll have my support. But how about making sure you’re not guilty of the very same tactic before you have a pop at someone else? Photographers need to earn a living as well. Like Apple, you can afford to pay for photographs so please stop forcing us to hand them over to you while you prevent us from publishing them more than once, ever.”[/blockquote] Swift’s team didn’t take long to respond. An UK spokesman told Business Insider that the standard photo agreement has been “misrepresented in that it clearly states that any photographer shooting The 1989 World Tour has the opportunity for further use of said photographs with management’s approval.” What it means is that photographers can still publish images of Taylor Swift after initial publication but must first seek the approval of her management company. The same representative also clarified that the contract does not give the management company rights to the images, and that the photographer does in fact keep them.
Swift’s representative ended the statement with “Every artist has the right to, and should, protect the use of their name and likeness.”
After the events of this week, I’ve decided to put 1989 on Apple Music…and happily so.
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 25, 2015
In related news, Taylor Swift has confirmed that her latest album 1989 will be available on Apple Music after all. The singer-songwriter seems to be pleased with the fast and positive reaction from Apple’s top brass to her letter and tweeted that she would be putting up 1989 on the service that is launching June 30th.
In case you’re wondering if this is some exclusive deal like you’ve seen Apple do with other artists, it’s not.
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 25, 2015
This is simply the first time it’s felt right in my gut to stream my album. Thank you, Apple, for your change of heart.
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 25, 2015
But, Swift was also quick to point out in no unequivocal term that putting up her album on Apple’s streaming service is not part of an exclusive deal like the one Apple has worked out with Pharrell Williams. Still, it represents a huge win for Apple; 1989 is the biggest album release in years and has sold millions of copies since its release last fall. It still ranks in the top 10 charts for album sales on iTunes, and now Apple Music will be the first streaming service to get it.
