Whisky sour

My Lovely is away this week, working in a clinic in Toronto. This has left me alone with my culinary shackles unleased. So what do I make for dinner? Simple steak and potatoes. I decided on my way home to pick up a bottle of Chianti.

But that's all beside the point. The thing that caught my eye inside the LCBO was a advert for an amateur photography competition, main prize a photography package*: "Whisky in focus". With a quickening step I walked home eager to find out more.

(aside: I don't drink whisky. Don't really like the stuff. But I have a small bottle in the house for a wonderful whisky-maple glaze I make for grilled chicken)

I fed the cats as the computer warmed up. I logged in, brought up Firefox and typed in lcbo.com . The photo competition link was front and center. Bingo. I started devouring the site (even though it opened up a new browser window -I hate that)

Five categories, blah blah blah, annoying music with an poorly placed mute button, blah blah blah, contest details. I read over the terms and conditions when I see this:

• ... At the time you send any Photo Entry, in whole or in part, to the LCBO, and whether or not your entry is selected as a winner, you irrevocably transfer, convey and assign to the LCBO all right, title and interest in and to your Photo Entry, in whole and in part, and all the intellectual property rights therein, throughout the world in perpetuity, including without limitation any and all copyrights and the registration, renewal, and derivative rights and you waive all moral rights ...

Full Stop. Come on LCBO - you want me to give you all the rights of each photograph I submit to you with the slim hope I could win a camera? I may be a poor Software Tester, but I know enough to know that this is a bad deal. This is more than the rights to display and use the photos - this is complete control transfered from me to you. Under this deal I wouldn't even be able to post submitted photos to my Flickr account or put them on this blog.

This smells like the LCBO trying to build up the stock photograph portfolio.

I'll be passing on this contest.

To any of you reading this that are considering entering this contest, I wish you luck but do consider the terms. You may not care what happens to your photograph and that's fine. But it's not fine for me.

If anyone from the LCBO wants to contact me, leave a comment and I'll get back to you right away.

*The grand prize is a photo package that includes a 10 megapixel camera, but they don't specify the make or model - perhaps they don't know yet...