The shot I took of riding with Fritz, which went on the cover of MPH, is – inline with the VOC policy – copyrighted to the Club. So it is shared with everyone, and I was very proud Graham chose to use it.
If I might just clarify a minor point, MPH's Copyright Policy as stated on the magazine's Inside Front Cover is as follows:
Copyright Policy: Contributions to the MPH are accepted on the basis that the Vincent H.R.D Owners Club shall have the royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to publish these and otherwise use the material in any way, in any media and at any time, in furtherance of the Club's interest. The Club shall have full editorial control of all material used.
This Copyright Policy also applies to any content posted here on the VOC forum website:
Copyright Policy: Contributions to the Vincent H.R.D. Owners Club Forums are accepted on the basis that the Vincent H.R.D Owners Club shall have the royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to publish these and otherwise use the material in any way, in any media and at any time, in furtherance of the Club's interest. The Club shall have full editorial control of all material used.
So as Graham says above, you retain copyright in your work. However, it has to be said that this policy gives the impression that the VOC aims to acquire
de facto copyright in contributors' work. Where internet forum postings are concerned, the majority are of little value. However, were members to share valuable material, like interviews with characters from Vincent-HRD's history and relevant images, the VOC would take the view that they henceforth had the right to use such material however they wished, without further reference to its owner or owners. As Andy Everett said in a recent post here, this copyright policy is similar to that of large media organisations like the BBC. Every major publisher or media outfit tries this sort of thing on all the time. Fair enough...business is business. However, large media organisations tend to back down when challenged by collaborators or their agents over such try-ons.
You chose to give MPH a shot of Fritz Egli for the December 2008 cover. While you retain copyright in your work and can do whatever you like with it, the VOC can also do whatever it likes with your work, without further reference to you. I discussed this with Graham on a couple of occasions, after writing up the second prize to the VOC for best stand in the Southern Classic Bike Show. I took the view that since I wrote the piece as a favour for the guys who put so much work into winning kudos for the club, I didn't mind overlooking the copyright policy as I was hardly likely to wish to use that material elsewhere. I also trust Graham not to change my work in a way that makes me look bad. However, I still think that this copyright policy is unnecessarily aggressive and ultimately self-defeating.
Between us, David and I probably worked for most of the motorcycle magazines and papers worth a damn in the late 1980s and mid-1990s. There are also a few others in and around the VOC with relevant track records, like PUB, Roy Harper and Tony Page, to name a few. If the current Editor-in-Chief of The Classic Motorcycle, who rides a Comet to work, is a VOC member, that's another name for the potential list of contributors to print and web-based VOC magazines. OK, so PUB is 'contributing' with the edited series of Tony Rose articles but it seems a shame that such people are not generating new content for our magazine and website. One wonders if this policy, borrowed from the media's robber barons, of trying to obtain
de facto copyright in potential contributors' work is having a deterrent effect.
PK