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The awkward controversy behind Prince William's birthday photos.
The controversy surrounding Prince William's birthday photos
The Prince of Wales is celebrating his 43rd birthday today, and though a joyous moment it is for the royal family, it does bring back the memories of the blunder caused on his 18th birthday. Back in 2000, when the young prince was celebrating his turn into adulthood, a controversy had sparkead over the copyright of his birthday images. And though it might have not seemed like a big issue, it had unfortunately led to the downfall of King Charles' press secretary Sandy Henney.
The issue arose when there was a misunderstanding over the copyright of the images as well as press exclusivity, because during that period of time, there was an understanding between Buckingham Palace and the British media to not invade William or Harry's privacy during their education. So when Sandy reportedly gave the newspaper Daily Telegraph and TV network ITN exclusive access to his birthday images, the rest of the media outlets were quite peeved.
The situation worsened when there was an argument over the copyright of the produced photos. According to the law, photographers automatically have copyright of their own work; however, at the same tim,e the Palace traditionally owns the copyright on official photographs released with its proceeds going to charity.
Daily Telegraph editor Charles Moore said he was shocked at the treatment of his photographer, Ian Jones, while Jones expressed,
"I was offered the opportunity to take exclusive pictures of Prince William at Eton, which I was honoured to accept," he further added in goodwill, "The law conferred copyright to me and no suggestion has been made until today that I should donate it to the Crown. Now the suggestion has been made, I shall gladly assign the copyright as the Prince of Wales may direct."
To subdue the issue that arose with this miscommunication, St James' Palace had said in a statement,
"It is a matter of deep regret that confusion has arisen over the photographs commissioned to mark Prince William's 18th birthday. The copyright of these pictures should have been established at the time they were taken to ensure that St James' Palace owned the copyright and that any proceeds arising from the use of the photographs went to charity, as had normally happened in the past.
"The issue was not resolved and the copyright is now wrongly vested elsewhere. The Prince of Wales hopes that, in the light of the clear and consistent policy, no one should profit form pictures, either of Prince William or Prince Harry, and that those who do own the copyright will make clear that all proceeds will go to charity." it further stated, "To do otherwise would be to undermine the work of the Palace, the press and the Press Complaints Commission have all vested in the protection of Prince William and Prince Harry's privacy."
By the time the situation died down, Sandy had resigned from her post after seven years of serving the crown. This time around, the Prince was celebrated with a heartwarming photo of the Prince cuddling his new puppies on Instagram.
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