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What
is commercial use? Use in an advertisement to sell a horse
or product or service such as training, breeding service or instruction.
Commercial use can be via print vehicles such as magazines, journals,
brochures or other printed matter or via the Internet. Most photographers
price these uses separately as they have separate values.
What
is editorial use? Use to complement an article, announcement
or short feature that is being written about a person, horse,
show, facility, etc. Beware though that some magazines sell their
cover stories which is actually an advertising use cloaked as
an editorial use. Your clients should direct publications to you
to negotiate the licensing of editorial use rights.
What
is personal use? Display in the home or on a personal web
site if that site DOES NOT include commercial activity or promotion
of any type for the sales of goods or services.
Why
should I license my work? All other segments of photography
license the rights to advertising & editorial use and so should
you. Just because equine photographers of the past have foolishly
given away use of their work, sometimes putting themselves right
out of business, there is no logical reason to follow this lead.
When clients push for freebies, tell them that the graphic artist
is not going to give them free design service nor is the magazine
going to give free ad space. You provide a valuable service by
creating quality images that help promote sales for clients &
add value to magazines content.
Should
I ever give away use of my work? No but you may want to barter.
It would be foolish not to seriously consider some bartering of
advertising space or certain products IF and ONLY IF the "payment"
suits your business needs. If you do decide to barter, you should
still prepare a use license which is a written contract to protect
you in all aspects of the transaction.
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What
if I donate use of an image to a charity? Great, make sure
you get prominent photo credit and any other benefits that seem
appropriate. Cover the donation with a use license so the charity
understands exactly what usage rights you are donating. Charitable
donations should only comprise a small amount of your total business
volume - they can be tax deductible but you risk audit if you
claim too many.
How
do I prepare a use license? First determine exactly what rights
you will license to the client. Here's an excellent resource that
explains exactly each type of right that can be licensed: http://handcraftedphotos.com/hcp_stuff/
business/photographic_and_artistic_usage_.htm
Here
are some references to contracts, forms and common terms &
conditions all designed to be fair and protect your interests:
www.sethresnick.com
This photographer and dynamic advocate for the rights of photographers
has designed a wonderful resource, For Photographers - a Reference
Section, on his site. You will need to register to access this
site. The menu with this reference section is about 3 pages into
the site. When contacted about this article, Seth Resnick has
indicated that readers may use and modify the contracts as long
as credit is given to him in the form of credit © 2001 Seth Resnick
http://www.sethresnick.com
The
book Business and Legal Forms for Photographers by Tad Crawford
may be purchased at many online bookstores, new or used.
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