Licencing a Photo

[verbalan]

Hi,

I've been contacted by a company who want to purchase a licence to use one of my photos. They're a company who sell digital and online curriculums to colleges.

I'm very inexperienced with this kind of thing, so I'd appreciate any help anyone could give me?

The licence they're looking for is "10 year, digital, world, all language. We'd want (editorial - educational) rights along with in context promotional rights (something that would allow us the ability to show to potential clients, at demos and conference, within the context of the product)"

First of all, how should I word the licence I give them so that they get what they're looking for, but I want to make sure that I keep all copyright and ownership of the image myself?

Secondly, how much should I charge them for this? It's a single photo. I know there's no definite answer, but I'm clueless, so if anyone could give me even a ballpark, that'd be great! I want to be reasonable, but at the same time don't want to undercut myself seeing as they're looking for such a long licence for the photo.

Any ideas?

 

[KmH]

:: PLUS :: License Generator

You can keep copyright and ownership but by giving them non-exclusive rights you can license the same photo to other buyers.
If you grant them exclusive rights you cannot license the photo to other buyers.
Note that copyright law varies by country, but that there is an international copyright treaty known as the Berne Convention.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_convention

As far as cost, key usage requirements are 'world', 'all languages', 'in context promotional rights'.
The broader the geographical use the more the license costs. World usage is the most costly.
In the same manner 'all languages' demands the highest price.
The company contacted you hoping to save a boatload of money because you are not a professional commercial photographer with an understanding of how much your photo is worth to the company that wants to license it.

"In context promotional rights' is pretty ambiguous. As the photo owner I want to know what media types will be used. The more media types, the more the license costs.

Cost will also vary by where that company is headquartered and the commercial photography market there.

I recommend you contact an attorney familiar with publication law and copyright.
Also helpful would be signing on with a good artist representative.

 

[tirediron]

There's one key element missing; do they want an exclusive license or not? Exclusivity costs! At least 5x as much.

 

[KmH]

Yes. I missed mentioning that.

 

[vintagesnaps]

I too think some of the wording seems vague. It appears the usage could be potentially for the curriculum materials as well as promotion but what would that include? brochures? ads? I'd want it to be specific.

There are resources I've used but I don't know if they apply to your country although they at least may give you an idea what you'd need to do. ASMP American Society of Media Photographers and PPA are professional photographers organizations in the US - are there any like that in your country? Or are there any other pro photographers or camera clubs or anything else that could help you find information related to licensing images?

I think for usage here for one photo for a specific purpose and a specific time period the pricing would be somewhere in the range of at least a few hundred dollars. So to me 10 years would be a lot of usage.

Probably you should make sure you understand everything in a licensing contract, that it's clear and specific. I don't think I'd agree to anything I didn't completely understand or still had questions about.

 

[verbalan]

Thanks a million guys.

I'll have to find out if they want exclusive rights or not, but I'd imagine from what they've said that it's non-exclusive that they want. 10 years seems like quite a long time for a licence, but as you said, I'm not a pro-photographer so at the moment anything I get at all is a profit. But you're right, they contacted me hoping to save a bit of money - I want to make sure the amount I charge is reasonable, but fair.

Any idea of a general ballpark you guys would charge, say if it was non-exclusive rights? Thanks again.

 

[KmH]

Any idea of a general ballpark you guys would charge, say if it was non-exclusive rights? Thanks again.

There is assignment and stock photography pricing software recommended by the ASMP, but it's geared to the US market - fotoQuote Pro Stock Photography Pricing