Charles Furious Over Copyright on William and Harry's Pictures "The Times" June 10, 2000

[topa...@my-deja.com]

June 10 2000 BRITAIN

Telegraph man bows to Prince's picture demand
BY ANDREW PIERCE AND MICHAEL HORSNELL

Sandy Henney negotiated the controversial deal
Photograph: JOHN STILLWELL ©

THE Daily Telegraph photographer at the centre of a dispute over
pictures of Prince William bowed to pressure from St James's Palace
yesterday and agreed to relinquish his copyright.

Ian Jones was chosen by the Prince of Wales's staff to take a set of
photographs to mark Prince William's 18th birthday. But they
inadvertently signed the copyright to him, enabling him to profit from
their publication by other newspapers and magazines.

The Prince was "apoplectic with rage" when he discovered that Mr Jones
could make millions of pounds from the photographs. St James's Palace
issued a public statement, saying that no one should profit from
photographs of the Prince's sons and demanding that all money generated
be given to charity.

Last night Mr Jones agreed to transfer the copyright according to the
Prince's directions. In a statement he said: "I was offered the
opportunity to take exclusive pictures of Prince William at Eton, which
I was honoured to accept. The law conferred the copyright on me and no
suggestion has been made until today that I should donate it to the
Crown. Now that the suggestion has been made, I shall gladly assign the
copyright as the Prince of Wales may direct."

The deal with Mr Jones, who is the Telegraph's royal photographer, was
struck by Sandy Henney, 47, press secretary to the Prince of Wales. She
resigned yesterday.

The Prince accepted the resignation with what St James's Palace
described as "very deep regret" in a 450-word statement. This made it
clear that copyright should have been established by Miss Henney as
belonging to the Palace - in which it is normally vested - but she had
inexplicably failed to do so. The statement said: "This issue was not
resolved and copyright is now wrongly vested elsewhere."

For days the row had been bubbling as St James's Palace fought in vain
for the copyright deal to be ripped up and for all media outlets to
have the same rights.

Charles Moore, Editor of the Telegraph, refused to budge and threatened
to sue St James's Palace after it handed copies of the pictures to The
Times and the Daily Mail.

The Prince lost patience late yesterday and issued a rare public
statement, which said: "The Prince of Wales is hoping that in the light
of the clear and consistent policy . . . no one should profit from
pictures of Prince William and Prince Harry. Those who do own the
copyright should make clear all the proceeds will go to charity."

The row is the most serious between a senior member of the Royal Family
and a broadsheet newspaper editor. Lord Wakeham, chairman of the Press
Complaints Commission, whose office was in constant touch with St
James's Palace, has cancelled a speech on privacy, the press and the
Princes, which he was due to give on Wednesday, because of the dispute.

Prince Charles has been "shocked, appalled, and upset" according to
friends that his son and heir should be plunged into such an unseemly
row. A source said: "The image of Prince William is not for sale. That
is Prince Charles's unshakeable view. There were rows like this
involving photographs of Diana in the 1980s. Prince Charles is
determined the same is not going to be true of either of his sons."

The Daily Telegraph obtained the photographs earlier than its rivals to
enable it to use them in its colour magazine, but objections from The
Times and the Daily Mail prompted St James's Palace to ensure a wider
audience.Worldwide sales would have reached millions of pounds. After
the initial use, British media outlets would have had to pay £150 for
each use of any of the ten photographs.

Mr Moore responded yesterday in a statement laying the blame entirely
at St James's Palace. He said: "We see this as an acceptance by the
Prince of Wales's office that they did behave unprofessionally towards
the Telegraph. The Daily Telegraph was never party to any contractual
arrangements in this matter and has no financial involvement whatever
in anything to do with the pictures. Our concern throughout has been
that agreements made with our royal photographer Ian Jones should be
honoured and we were dismayed that this did not happen."

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.