The News Media Coalition (NMC) has formally protested an unusually restrictive condition placed on press photographers covering the weekend’s opening night of the Oasis Live ’25 tour in Cardiff, following concern from photo editors and photographers across the news industry.
According to the organisers of the complaint, editors and news outlets would only be allowed to use images taken at the Cardiff concert, the Manchester band’s first in over a decade, for a period of 12 months from the gig. In response, the NMC has written directly to the band’s management, Ignition, and the press handler Dawbell to express its opposition to the strict time-based usage restriction.
“News photography has had a significant role in amplifying interest and telling the visual cultural story of artists such as Oasis. It’s part of the legacy. And that does not stop after 365 days,” said NMC chief executive Andrew Moger.
“Oasis Live ’25 will attract editorial coverage throughout the 41-venue tour and for years to come. We invite the concert organisers to withdraw the ‘shelf-life’ of such newsworthy material and not to diminish the copyright work of photographers—who are in their own way artists too.”
READ MORE: ITV releases first trailer for new series of ‘Tartan Noir’ Karen Pirie
The NMC noteded that such a limitation is highly unusual in the context of editorial press coverage, particularly for a globally significant cultural event. The policy risks not only undermining the long-standing editorial norms that allow for historical referencing and journalistic retrospectives, but also affects the broader ecosystem of independent photographers, agencies, news publishers and broadcasters who rely on continued access and use of visual content, the organisation claimed.
Moger added: “Editors rightly want the choice, as usual, to use the material for years to come – in band retrospectives, tributes, to illustrate future concert news – and to play their role in keeping the Oasis story alive.”
The NMC said that it will continue to monitor the situation and advocate for the preservation of editorial freedoms and the copyright interests of photographers. News images are more than promotional tools, it said, they are “cultural records with enduring value.”
