I had a woman call me last night asking about portrait packages. I asked her what she needed them for and she is an author in need of a head shot for the new book and some international promotional/catalog booklets. That piqued my interest right away. If I could get some worldwide exposure, that would be sweet. So I brought up my costs, probably $150 for the shoot and then we would need to discuss licensing agreements. This is where my questions comes in. Should I have brought up licensing? I'm pretty certain this kind of usage constitutes a specific agreement. She promptly said, "Well, you're definitely the most expensive photographer out of 8 I have spoken to, and no on has mentioned licensing." "Well, that's their perogative", I said. "I am a member of Professional Photographers of Oregon (PPO) backed by PPA and we have very specific rules of conduct regarding licensing of our work." I was thinking she should know this being an author. I just thought it.... She was quiet for few seconds and said, "Okay, thank you for calling me on a Monday night." "Goodbye." So, did I do something wrong? Were the other guys stoked about worldwide exposure (as I was) and thus compromising their values (as I wasn't)? Any thoughts?

-- Colin Miller (ckmiller@pond.net), January 16, 2001

Answers

It's hard to believe she spoke to eight photographers and not one mentioned licensing, let alone the idea that 150 bucks was expensive for a headshot. You did the right thing and you probably haven't lost much.... if anything. Personally I don't deal with this a lot, I'm not a pro, but i do know that licensing images has got to be one of the top five hardest things to explain in the world. "No, you don't own the image. No, you can't have the negatives." It's worth it to go to some of the pro photographer forums (you can search this site or look through http://www.pdn-pix.com/) and see how other people deal with it, its one of the hotter topics. Good luck, and hey, she may decide she wants a pro after all, and call back-

-- Chris Yeager (cyeager@ix.netcom.com), January 16, 2001.

Not all authors are familiar with the legal aspects of publishing or copyright so it does not surprise me that she might not be aware of the licensing issues. The publisher will in all liklihood require her to get a "permission" which for a photograph will require your authorization for the image to be reproduced in the book and promotional materials. I don't know if your intention was to be paid extra for the publication of the photograph. My guess is that the publisher would not be interested in paying this cost and it sounds as if the prospective client was not either. A possible approach to dealing with these kinds of matters would be to quote a price that includes your permission to use the image in the book and promotional materials. Bringing up a price for the session and then an ambiguous reference to negotiating a licensing agreement will tend to make many people nervous since they are unsure what they need to do and how much they will have to pay.

-- Bert Krages (krages@teleport.com), January 16, 2001.

She was (1) probably lying (2) does not want to pay money for a service she needs (3) pretty damn sure she knows she needs licensing rights if she is publishing a book and catalogs (4) wasting your time

You didn't do anything wrong, you just passed on a losing proposition.

An average nyc headshot for actors costs 300-500 dollars, rights for a book shot is a lot more, she was fishing and she came up empty. After she goes to a bunch of people who will do it dirt cheap and the product is totally unusable, they usually goto a high priced shooter and get it done right. Happens all the time to actors in nyc who go for the budget deals out by photographers who can't shoot. Eventually you pay wasted dev and lab fees that ends up doubling the cost it would have been if you had just done it right the first time.

-- Altaf Shaikh (al@nyc.rr.com), January 17, 2001.

Re: "Bringing up a price for the session and then an ambiguous reference to negotiating a licensing agreement will tend to make many people nervous since they are unsure what they need to do and how much they will have to pay."

Yes, but to "hide" the charge and not explain the licensing/usage arrangement is also unacceptable- usage must be spelled out and the client must understand what he or she is paying for.

-- Chris Yeager (cyeager@ix.netcom.com), January 17, 2001.