We at Transracial have never really been the Burning Man type — but we salute the dudes that find the need to hang out in the desert and dance and act crazy and spend a lot of money in the process.

Good for you!

But it turns out that those Burning Man folk are a lot craftier than you might think.

Because even though a huge part of the Burning Man experience is shooting pics and videos of the desert mayhem — the thousands of people expected to descend upon Nevada’s Black Rock later this month don’t necessarily own those photos and home-movies.

Turns out the Burning Man lawyers have injected some ultra-clever wordage into the “terms and conditions” of this year’s event — which runs from August 31 to September 7th.

Along with the usual legal stuff — participants declare they’re physically fit enough to handle Burning Man; that all sales are final; that revelers engage in Burning Man art/activities at their own risk — their Clause No. 9 notes that:

I agree that, in the event I post, or allow to be posted, any images (still or video) on a personal website or a website controlled by a third party, that (1) in the event Burning Man notifies me that any such images must be removed, for any reason whatsoever in Burning Man’s sole discretion, I will promptly remove or cause to be removed those images; and (2) I will place, or cause to be placed, on any website in which such images are displayed a notice that the images can be used only for the poster’s personal use and not for any other purpose and that downloading or copying of the images is prohibited. I further agree that, in the event any third party displays or disseminates any of my images in a manner not authorized by this agreement, I assign to Burning Man the copyright so that Burning Man can enforce against the third party any restrictions concerning use of the images, and I appoint Burning Man as my attorney-in-fact to execute any documents necessary to effectuate such assignment.

In other words, once you snap that lens, Burning Man ultimately controls/owns any image taken during the event and can basically make you do whatever they want with it wherever they want — whenever they want!

Online, in print — maybe even in your own photo album (if they still exist).

Ouch!

With so many stoned, oddly dressed and crazy-acting people running around in a single space, we can understand Burning Man’s desire to deeply control their own image.

Still, the use of cryptic legalese seems both churlish and a bit paranoid to us.

And definitely goes against Burning Man’s image of free love, creativity and sharing.

We’re staying home!