Need opinions on copyright issue!

[AprilRamone]

I was under the impression that when I sell the "rights" to the images to the clients, I am selling the right for them to make their own copies prints etc...for their own personal use and for making copies for their friends and family. Not that I was giving up MY rights to the image.
Perhaps selling them the "rights" isn't the correct terminology and I need to change that?

 

[JDS]

I believe if you sell the rights, they own the image, end of story. However, you can license the use of the image to them for whatever price and whatever use is agreed upon by both parties.

That's the way I understand it anyway.

 

[Nimitz]

JDS is correct. Once a photographer pushes the camera shutter they own the copyright on that image forever, unless they decide to give it up. Licensing is the method used to allow someone limited rights (spelled out) to use the photograph (quanity of prints, time, etc) but the photographer still retains the copyrights to the image so they can use it for other purposes (license it to someone else to use, etc). This is how photographers make money on stock photography. A single image they own the copyright to is licensed to multiple clients for multipe purposes with each client paying the photographer a license fee to use his image.

A professional photographer would be crazy to give up the copyright on any image they own without extreme compensation - the Time Magazine cover is a great example - you never know what someone in the future may want to use one of your images for ...

 

[Skyhawk]

Copyright laws are written for a reason. Spelling out your rights and there rights is not an optional in my opinion. To not do so is encouraging the developing mindset that once "I" have a copy, anything goes. I simply ask, why give up your rights to copyright protection? Soon you won't have those rights.

I recently retired as a managing director of a $1 billion international advertising agency. Enforcing and recovering damages on copyright laws for businesses who misuse your images is one thing; enforcing and recovering for normal, everyday people is another.

Think Napster. All their threats and coercion about illegal downloading of music and their announcment of lawsuits. They were--legally--in the right. But the incredible negative PR that resulted when amongst their lawsuits was a twelve year old with Down's Syndrome and a seventy-year-old grandmother on a fixed disability income just about sealed their fate.

In other words, you can win the battle--and in the process, die in the war.

Running/operating a business requires common sense and compromise; all the moreso in highly competitive and subjective businesses such as photography, production, advertising, etc.

You can play firm and hard with businesses who purchase your product in order to help themselves make/increase profits. But playing firm and hard with walk-in private citizens will ultimately hold you back in many cases.

Jeff

 

[nicfargo]

I have no problem giving the rights to images to clients, but of course they have to pay. I make a substantial amount of money on my prints, and from what I can tell most photogs do. If I just let someone print their own, I lose out a lot of money. I then decided to charge the average amount of money I make on prints for the copyrights to a clients images. For the sake of this post, I would have asked the woman how many xmas cards she was printing. Then I would have charged her the same amount for a limited copyright that I would have charged for her to go through me to print (thus pretty much forcing her to go through me and then I don't worry about the copyright issue).

 

[ilfordrapid]

In selling a limited copyright, how can you tell that they are going by the guidlines set up? Right now, I am not sure if I would offer any kind of copyright to a private person. But of course I would be nice about it. Business is different I am presently working on a project where one of my landscapes might be used on the bottle of a new line of wine. I will be making my presentation to the winery owner in the spring. I would not accept any less than $2000.00

 

[ilfordrapid]

It is my understanding that when you sell a copyright, it is no longer yours to use any more. Therefore if I sell a copyright to a private person it is going to be worth my while to do so. It depends on how bad they want it I guess.