Acceptability of Images

Images displayed on the Society's website must broadly respect and reflect the standards of society in general. Standards within a particular community, region or country are likely to be difficult to define, and an element of judgement is inevitably involved. Standards within the global reach of a website are obviously more varied and hence even more difficult to satisfy. The Society therefore reserves the right to reject any images which it believes may cause offence. The decision of the Society in such matters will be final.

Although such standards are difficult to define in precise terms, a common-sense approach by photographers should prove adequate in most cases. The Society accepts that some authors may disagree with its decisions with regard to the acceptability of images, and asks photographers to bear in mind that, where doubt exists, caution must be exercised. Images that will be rejected include:

• those of an adult or pornographic nature;

• those likely to prove offensive or particularly provocative to religious groups;

• those identifying people in private circumstances and not accompanied by an appropriate model release form;

• those of people under 18 years of age not accompanied by an appropriate model release form signed by a responsible parent or guardian;

• those depicting explicit or distasteful nudity;

• those considered to be in generally poor taste; and

• those deriving impact primarily from shocking elements rather than artistic merit.

The Society will assume that photographers who submit images for possible use on the website hold the copyright of the submitted images and any associated model release. Please also note that fees paid for the submission of unacceptable images will not be returned.