Please Reply #yes to Give Us Unlimited Rights to Your Photo

Yesterday we shared how one photographer was surprised when a casual request to “share” her Facebook photo turned out to be a request to use it in a national TV ad. Unfortunately for photographers, it seems more and more companies are requesting photos in similarly subtle ways.

Photographer Tony German tells us that Samsung UK recently left a comment on an Instagram photo that was taken with the Samsung Galaxy S3, asking to use it to show what the company’s products look like.

It may seem like a simple request to casually share the photo online, but take a look at the “terms” that are linked to:

Let us boil that fine print down for you.

First, you’re guaranteeing that you have rights to the photo and permission from all people seen in it. If Samsung runs into any copyright or model release legal trouble, you’re agreeing to take the hit instead of Samsung.

Second, you’re giving Samsung permission to use the photo for free, for any and every purpose. You may or may not be credited, and Samsung can transfer that license to anyone else if it wants to.

That’s a whole lot you’ll be agreeing to with a simple “#yes” reply. Just keep that in mind if you ever come across a similar request for your photos.