Photographer Jason Sheldon slams Taylor Swift's 'hypocrisy'

A photographer has written an open letter accusing popstar Taylor Swift of "double standards" in the wake of her row with Apple over its music streaming service.

The tech giant made a U-turn over its initial policy of refusing to pay artists during free trials of Apple Music a day after the 25-year-old singer pulled her hit album 1989 from the service.

In an open letter published online, photographer Jason Sheldon accused Swift of double standards after he and other photographers were asked to sign a waiver granting the star's management company the "perpetual worldwide right to use [and to authorise others to use] any or all of the photographs for any non-commercial purpose.

"How are you any different to Apple? If you don't like being exploited, that's great - make a huge statement about it, and you'll have my support. But how about making sure you're not guilty of the very same tactic before you have a pop at someone else?" he wrote.

"Photographers need to earn a living as well. Like Apple, you can afford to pay for photographs so please stop forcing us to hand them over to you while you prevent us from publishing them more than once, ever.

"With all due respect to you too, Taylor, you can do the right thing and change your photo policy. Photographers don't ask for your music for free. Please don't ask us to provide you with your marketing material for free."

In response, a spokesperson for Swift told the BBC: "The standard photography agreement has been misrepresented in that it clearly states that any photographer shooting The 1989 World Tour has the opportunity for further use of said photographs with management's approval.

"Another distinct misrepresentation is the claim that the copyright of the photographs will be with anyone other than the photographer - this agreement does not transfer copyright away from the photographer.

"Every artist has the right to, and should, protect the use of their name and likeness."

Swift has fought with music streaming services before. She pulled her entire catalogue of music from online streaming platform Spotify last November and refused to offer 1989 on streaming services, saying the business had shrunk the numbers of paid album sales drastically.

Apple Music will debut on 30 June and cost $9.99 per month in the US.