Another large picture agency has joined the picture boycott of the Oasis tour.
As the Britpop band’s tour kicks off in Wembley this evening, Getty Images has also joined the picture boycott over restrictions imposed on how newspapers, magazines, broadcasters, and digital publishers can use images from the gigs.
The media company confirmed to The Standard it will not be covering the gig from inside the stadium, but will have a presence from outside.
In a statement, Getty Images said: “Getty Images has taken the editorial decision not to cover the Oasis shows if restrictions placed by Oasis’ management on licensing of content are not removed.
“Such restrictions are inconsistent with Getty Images’ rights as copyright holder to determine how its content is used for editorial reporting purposes.
“Getty Images is a trusted source of editorial imagery for publishers around the world and holds a wealth of archival content on Oasis which media organisations have used to report on the lead-up to the Oasis Live ’25 Tour.”
Oasis’ management has told photo agencies and publishers that they will only own the rights to images taken at the gigs for a year. After this time period, rights of the images will be reverted back to the band and management.
Typically, photographers from agencies are given rights to the images indefinitely so that they can continue to use the images for future pieces and publications, such as in tribute pieces or illustrative articles.
Getty is just the latest agency to join the boycott. The News Media Coalition (NMC) joined the boycott earlier this month.
The NMC represents newspaper groups such as The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Sun and Times, the Mirror and Express, News UK, and agencies such as Thomson Reuters, PA Media, Getty Images, Associated Press, and Shutterstock.
Chief executive of the NMC, Andrew Moger, told The Guardian: ““All news publishers, now and back in time, have created news photographs for use on the day and to illustrate future news.
“News agencies want to cover the tour from Cardiff to Brazil, but not having the freedom to share news into the future is a big factor in editorial planning.”
The NMC agreed to the terms set out by Oasis for the first two gigs in Cardiff, Wales, but are now boycotting all remaining 39 dates in the UK tour.
Reportedly, prior to the one-year term, Oasis’ management had proposed the right to use images would only last one month.
Moger added: “Since the comeback tour was speculated upon and announced, news publishers have reached into their news archives to reproduce imagery which tells the story of the band and its influence since the mid-1990s.
“As the band prepares for its UK and overseas legs this is not a time for the band to tell news organisations they want to be invisible”
The Standard has contacted Oasis for comment.
