Ariana Grande’s Tour Photo Agreement Causes Backlash from Major News Outlets

In light of her forthcoming Sweetener tour, pop-sensation Ariana Grande has stirred up quite the controversy over her tour’s restrictive photo agreements. Several news outlets and photographers have come forward to express their dissent regarding Grande’s terms and conditions, which uses language that has been seen as unreasonable and strict.

According to Stereogum, news outlets including the likes of the Associated Press, New York Times, and Los Angeles Times, have not been able to accept Grande’s restrictive photo agreements, so much so that they have aligned themselves with the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) to send a formal request to Grande’s tour company, GrandAriTour, Inc. On behalf of more than 10 news and photography outlets, Osterreicher’s request is for GrandAriTour to make amendments to the language used in the terms and conditions.

At the core of the disagreement is what is known as a “rights grab” that gives Grande ownership of photograph copyrights. In his letter to Grande, NPPA general counsel Mickey Osterreicher stated,

This surprising and very troubling over-reach by Ms. Grande runs counter to legal and industry standards and is anathema to core journalistic principles of the news organizations represented here.

Moreover, Osterreicher states that the restrictive conditions listed by Grande and her team is “more of a contract of adhesion than good and valuable consideration. Osterreicher ended his letter with a request for a more understanding set of regulations for the journalists and photographers that will be covering Grande’s tour:

As representatives of independent and staff photojournalists along with the news organizations that they shoot for, we encourage your company and Ms. Grande to create an agreement that better recognizes and values the work of visual artists with the same respect we assume she has for the rights of musicians and the worth of their songs.

For now, Grande and her team have yet to issue a response to the apparent controversy. Interestingly this is not the first case of its type, as artists like Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift have also been involved in similar cases of “rights-grabbing” in the past.