What bugs me a bit and why I’m only responding now….we take the high ground on this example and try to name and shame yet we are promoting a book that is celebrating work of this very nature – ‘Styleframes’ produced by Stash. I would wonder how many of the pages will feature work anyone has commissioned or paid for, how much of it was leached from false promises, pitches that went out to a variety of studios even though they knew from the outset which one was getting the gig. To me this is wrong and Stash have a cheek trying to profit from the work of people that represents the very essence of the issue we are getting on our high horses about.

Come on guys, is it just because we like Stash that we have let this slide?

Yes, there are other organizations out there, like the many advertising agencies who constantly ask for work on spec from design and animation studios. And there are now many, many signatories from studios on this list, who obviously feel that this is a problem in our industry. Perhaps this may snowball into calling them out as well. But the Sesame Street / Aniboom competition is an open, public contest and agency requests usually are not.

It’s not even something malicious that the companies that run the contests are doing. They can’t take these clauses out – they need to protect themselves in case they independently develop an idea similar to one of the contest submissions.

It’s just an inherent part of the unsolicited submission/contest model.

Here’s the text from the personal release for all winners AND finalists (losers):

For good and valuable consideration including participation in this program, I hereby
grant to you and your respective licensees, successors and assigns the absolute right
and permission to photograph, publish, record, broadcast, exhibit, digitize, display,
telecast, copyright, use and otherwise exploit perpetually throughout the world for all
media now or hereafter known or devised, my name, likeness, recorded voice,
performance, picture, caricature, nickname and any material furnished by me on and in
connection with the use exploitation and promotion of your television program(s) or
products connected therewith. I grant you full power to assign said rights contained
herein to anyone at your sole option.

I shall have no right of approval, no claim to compensation, and claim (including, without
limitation, claims based upon invasion of privacy, defamation, or right of publicity)
arising out of any use, alteration, distortion, or illusionary effect or use in any composite
form of my voice, picture, image or likeness.

As between us, you are the sole owner of all rights in the program recording and you rely
on my assurance that I am free lawfully to grant the right above set forth.

And that all of this is directed at Sesame Workshop, a non-profit organization… one that is educating children all around the world… stepping in when countries fail at educating their kids. We have a literacy epidemic in this country and Sesame is trying to fill that gap. This anger is completely misplaced.

Sesame pays it’s artists well, better than 75% of the agencies in New York. Why are you not railing against any of the agencies, that have a track record of hiring freelancers, or small companies, using them for a few weeks to do work and then saying oops, the job went away, sorry we can’t pay you for your time and work. Or like Nickelodeon, that pays 25% of the going dayrate to awesome artists?