Freelance work for Events/ Legal & Print Advice

BWeber1982 · Apr 30, 2011

I've recently been contacted by an event company to work as a freelance photographer at their party events. They spoke with me regarding attending their events, photographing guests and selling those images to the guests. They said in return for the events which avg. 250+ people, I supply their company with a disc of the images. I've just in the past 6 months started working on the business aspect of my photography. I went to college for this and have been photographing since age 6, so its nothing new to me, but the laws and legal & business aspect are all new. My money is solely on the sale of prints to customers, if many don't purchase, it doesn't pay my travel & time for these events. Do I charge a fee to the event organizer? The venue location? Which is the route to go? Some advice please?

What I would like to know is...
A) Should I contact the venue location to charge them a fee for having me supply a good to the guests at their location?
B) What is a good base price for a image, or package of a few images for a guest?
C) IF...I supply a cd of images to the organizer of the event, does that get me into legal issues? (ie the attendees of the event didn't give me permission to give their images to others for their use, what use of these images should I give the event organizer) a model photo release would take care of this issue, but is it feasible to have 250+ model release forms for all these event guests?

Thanks for the input, greatly appreciated! =)

Bethany Weber Photography
Facebook.com/bethanyweberphotography

AUG19 · Apr 30, 2011

Are the venue and the organizer one and the same?

If so

A) No. IMO, offer them a commission on profits. I may be wrong but I doubt they would be interested in paying for you to tout for business off their customers, on their premises.

B) All your expenses in completing the task, supplying the product, chasing payment and getting paid; plus a proportion of ongoing and projected business costs based on how many similar projects you will invest you time and effort in over one year (or two); multiplied by three, divided by your best guess of how many units you will sell at the event.

tirediron · Apr 30, 2011

What remuneration do you get from the company to whom you provide the disc?

Personally, I would pass on this; it sounds to me like there's a LOT of room for problems. Who ensures that you have permission to photograph at the events? What are New York's privacy laws (As in: Reasonable expectation of privacy)? What is the agreement to be on usage rights of the images? Who holds copyright? Actually getting payment could be a hassle as well; you might get lots of orders, but how many would forget, change their mind, or just not bother.

AUG19 · Apr 30, 2011

Raises some issues.

I wonder if people are entitled to complete privacy at an event which does not prohibit photography. It may be possible to operate on the basis of taking someone's photo with their verbal consent, noting their cellphone number along with the file #, then selling them a print afterwards. How would that impact on the rights of another attendee who may be in the background? That the a copy of the image was commercially sold to another person for non-commercial use neither increases or decreases the degree to which the person in the background's privacy was compromized. There would need to be a blanket ban on photography at the event, in such a case.

KmH · May 1, 2011

They didn't cover the legal aspects of doing photography in college?

For the legal aspects you need to consult with an attorney qualified to practice in the state of New York. Don't rely on online photography forum legal advice.

You own the copyright to all the photos, unless you sign a contract that states otherwise. www.copyright.gov

Anyone attending an event cannot have a reasonable expectation of privacy, unless the event is only attended by their immediate family.

Charge the events company for your time and then, because you are the copyright owner, they pay you use licensing fees for the disc of images they get if they want to use YOUR COPYRIGHTED photos for promoting/advertising the events company.

The events company would need model releases from any people in the photos, unless they don't mind taking the risk of winding up in court. In New York, I would also recommend being familiar with the states "Right of Publicity" statutes.

Any photo sales to event attendees for their personal use would be gravy, and you don't need a release to sell to them because personal use is not a commercial use.

BWeber1982 · May 3, 2011

Hi,

Thanks for the replys. I thought I was going to be notified by email that I had replys, but I wasn't. I just logged in and saw replys. I went to a community college, and granted I graduated several years ago, they just went over basics.(KmH) Nothing in great detail in regards to business, copyright and rights use. I know as the photographer, I retain copyright unless noted in contract that I'm selling the copyright with the image as well.

Aug19- The event organizer whom contacted me regarding taking photos does not own the club. She is simply hosting an event at the club. There is an event similar in fashion and size approx. 4-8 events a month at various locations.

Tirediron- I thought the same thing. If the event organizer doesn't want to pay to have me there, is it worth my time to travel, photograph, edit and sell? I guess I would have to attend an event or two to see the outcome and interest in photos to see if its worth my time. I don't want to be spending 2 hrs traveling, 2+more hours photographing and even more time editing for what $50, $100...? Use of images would have to be discussed, but I would assume they intend to be used as marketing on their web-site to further display their events they have done. But to no pay me a fee and use the images?! I think not. I'll check out your site!

KmH- The events aren't private family ones, simply party/gatherings with DJ provided music/entertainment and food, to which they pay to attend.

Thanks for the help!

gsgary · May 3, 2011

The way we do it is
1. We get a set amount from the organiser and everyone gets a print as they leave

2. We pay a sum to the organiser and we print on site (dye sub printer) @ £10 per 8x6, we keep all images so we can sell online just in case they have spent all their money on alcohol

The reason they want a disc is so they can sell prints

BWeber1982 · May 11, 2011

Gsgary,

With your last statement, that they want the images in order to sell them, I should add my logo to the bottom right correct?

c.cloudwalker · May 12, 2011

The organizer wants her cake and eat it too. It is your job to counter her offer which benefits her with no guarantee of earnings to you with one that benefits you. Or better, come up with one that benefits both of you. If she sets up such events as often as she says, it could be very good for the both of you.

As far as the model release for her to use the shots (for marketing? for sale?) it is easily put into the contract you sign with her. Two clauses are needed here. The first one mentions that all copyrights remain yours and that use of the photos for marketing purposes (which can be defined in more details) ONLY is in consideration of the fee she pays you... The second clause would make her responsible for obtaining the model releases for her use of the shots...

This is just an example. There are many ways of approaching this. Many ways to draw up the contract to protect you and make you money. But right now, she is trying to get herself a free photographer. :grumpy:

josephgiridhar · May 12, 2011

Hello my dear friend, working as Freelancer is really a great Experience, in this we can gain lot knowledge on the certain field and also we can be our Own Boss for our Company, also we can our payment straight away from the Client and hence here no question of third party and Mediator. So its really great Experience to work as a Freelancer......

Village Idiot · May 12, 2011

If you are looking to sharpen your technical skills, or just enjoy participating in group assignments - this is the place for you! Join other members in themed assignments, or start your own!

Is this a new themed assignment?

BWeber1982 · May 12, 2011

C.Cloudwalker,

A bit has happened since that initial post, so this is where I'm at now. She is paying me a set fee for the cd of images, I'm taking photos of guests and printing and selling to them to take home the night of the event. So I'm making money from both. So as for her to not try and sell the pictures to the guests at a lower rate if they didn't purchase from me, I was thinking about scaling the resolution of the images and also placing my watermark on them. (That's totally fine right? Its not like she hired to take photos exclusively for her, I'm there for the guests and she just wants a copy to use as advertisement on her site of the events she has done) In my contract of sale for the disc, it states I retain copyright and her only use of the images is for her to display on her web-site and facebook page, it also states she can't print the images, alter them in anyway or fees will be charged for damage of my copyrighted material. New to this sort of selling..so I'm learning as I go, but its good to get others input as I'm sure many have been in these situations and can help out. Thanks for your help!

josephgiridhar · May 13, 2011

Yes the Freelancing is one of the best new Trend in the market, so its so nice to use it in proper way to get much better results. We can can get multi-advantages and promotions to our Site and also for our products and Services, because the Freelancing is under taken only by the Experts and Multi talented guys...

c.cloudwalker · May 13, 2011

Glad I could help out but it is not my specialty so, don't listen just to me, lol. I've never done that sort of shooting deal but I knew a guy once who shot on specs on beaches during the summer... He made quite a nice living while working only a few months a year

My life experience however tells me that you can lower the resolution of the files you will give her to match that of the web. Whatever that is, can't remember. As for the watermark, go by what was spelled out in the contract. If nothing was specified, talk to her and ask her what she prefers: watermark on the photos or a line of credit on the website/facebook page. It seems to me she is reasonable (although you do not mention what kind of fee you got from her) and it can only help your relationship with her. Plus, it is a selling technique, lol. You are giving her a choice so she is in control but you somewhat control the outcome by forcing her to choose between two things, either one of which will benefit you.

Have you done an event yet and, if yes, was it worthwhile financially? What have you learned and what tips would you give to others wanting to do similar things?

BWeber1982 · May 15, 2011

I didn't mention watermarking the photos, but it seems logical. In my contract however, for the sale of the discs of images from these events, I put in my contract that the image can't be altered, whether by adding or removing content.