Interesting E-mail...

Steve5D

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So, this evening I received an e-mail from someone who claims to work for a very large, and very well known company. The person states that he would like to discuss licensing my "imagery".

Red flags go up all over. First, given the size of the company and the depths of its resources, I just find it hard to believe that someone from this company would be looking at a website that hasn't been updated in a year as a source for images to license. Second, this company could easily afford to license photos taken by anyone. Jesus Christ could come down from the cross, take a photograph, and this company could afford to license it.

(No offense intended to believers)

So, I get a hold of a buddy of mine who actually does work for this company, and I ask him if it seems legit to him. I give him the guy's name, and ask him if he can do a little checking up on the guy. I figure that my buddy will e-mail me back telling me that it's a crock. Well, my buddy e-mailed me back and said that the name of the guy who e-mailed me does belong to someone actually employed by this company, and in the very capacity/job that was stated in the e-mail.

I e-mailed the person back, asking which images, specifically, he was interested in.

So, assuming that all of this is on the up and up (and I'm still a long way from believing that), what factors would dictate what a proper fee is for something like this? What variables do I need to consider? They can afford anything they want, but I also don't believe that what they can afford should necessarily dictate what they pay, either.

Any suggestions would be appreciated...
 
A lot depends on what the intended use is for, how long, how many copies if it's a production run of a printed product and such. You really need to konw what exactly they want to license them for. Too much missing information to give any number right now.
 
A lot depends on what the intended use is for, how long, how many copies if it's a production run of a printed product and such. You really need to konw what exactly they want to license them for. Too much missing information to give any number right now.

Okay, thanks.

That's what I figured.

And thanks for the insight on the specifics...
 
No it's not at all strange. I used to work for a very big well-known company, one you'd expect to have the resources to get decent photography for its promotional shots, but no.

I designed a product. They hired a photographer to shoot it. It was horrible. Bad photography, lousy image quality. I contacted the person who was in charge of that part, and she said they didn't have the budget to hire a better photographer. I was like.... SERIOUSLY?????
 
I designed a product. They hired a photographer to shoot it. It was horrible. Bad photography, lousy image quality. I contacted the person who was in charge of that part, and she said they didn't have the budget to hire a better photographer. I was like.... SERIOUSLY?????

Photography is one of those things people think they can get away (and often do) with very low grade results. Heck most if not all the real-estate shop windows I go past clearly just have someone from the shop floor going around with a point and shoot camera - only breaking out the quality gear for a major sell.
 
Steve - once more information comes your way, the details of the a will become apparent. Obviously, don't give him any money and verify that funds are available in your payment. It's likely legit, but that doesn't mean that someone just looked up his name and sent you a bogus e-mail, either. Some skepticism is a good thing to have.
 
Thanks for the input, folks.

Yeah, I'm skeptical to a fault. While I do believe I'm a pretty good photographer, this is a situation where this company can, literally, afford anything Part of me is very flattered.

But part of me is quite guarded, too...
 
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It sounds plausible to me--I think that although some firms could hire the greatest of the great and renown photographers, it really does sometimes come down to an image. If the image is exactly what they're looking for, they'll go after it. Congratulations on having your image found in the wilds of the internet !
 
I designed a product. They hired a photographer to shoot it. It was horrible. Bad photography, lousy image quality. I contacted the person who was in charge of that part, and she said they didn't have the budget to hire a better photographer. I was like.... SERIOUSLY?????

Photography is one of those things people think they can get away (and often do) with very low grade results. Heck most if not all the real-estate shop windows I go past clearly just have someone from the shop floor going around with a point and shoot camera - only breaking out the quality gear for a major sell.


And they ended up using the shots that I took by myself using a company Canon G11. Yes they are that lame.
 
Well, it gets better, and it gets worse.

They want worldwide, unlimited marketing excluding outdoor print and broadcast advertising. Non-exclusive, duration of license (negotiable) is five years. I guess I can figure out what the licensing for something like that should be.

The bad part is that the image is on a hard drive, which is in a storage box, which is on a truck somewhere between San Diego and Portland, Oregon. I haven't seen the image in years.

I'm a bit puzzled by the image they selected, though. It's not on my website. It's not on my Flickr page. I don't know where they could've gotten it but, apparently, I put it out there somewhere. And, wherever it was, it had to have my name attached to it, as they contacted me through my website which is my name followed by "photography.com".

I'm going to be cautiously optimistic...
 
The license fee for "worldwide, unlimited marketing excluding outdoor print and broadcast advertising. Non-exclusive, duration of license (negotiable) is five years." would be worth butt loads more than the $150 cost of fotoQuote Pro.
 

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