I don't post much. I apologize. I have followed the threads here and I took the time to download the app, you'd think I would at least take the time to be active. I intend to change that...I hope!
This is just a "venting" post because I'm really hacked off right now. Here's the deal:
An artist had some of her paintings on exhibit in a small local gallery with other artists as well. It was a "multi-exhibit" sort of thing. I am also a painter (mostly oils, and more sketching than painting actually), but I did not know about this exhibit. A friend of mine called me and told me this particular artist needed some photos of her paintings at the exhibit. I went to the exhibit one evening a couple of weeks ago and met her. She does what we call "decor art", which entails paintings with various patterns and colors that you see in doctor's offices, business offices, etc. She wanted photos of the paintings (total of six paintings) for use on a web site she is having designed. She wanted them done in the gallery for a few reasons. In any case, I told her I would get a quote to her, which I emailed the following day.
She called me back today. She decided the price was more than she could afford. Okay, no problem. I would wish her well in finding another photographer, which of course I'm sure she can. She paused as if surprised and said, "Oh, I thought maybe we could work something out." I said sure we could, and offered a few suggestions - decreasing the number of paintings she wanted photos of, the number she wanted, etc. She didn't want to do that. The gallery lighting wasn't conducive to the actual exhibit much less the ability to shoot under, and I would need to transport and set up much more gear than usual to do it. She didn't want to give on anything. Before I could tell her well, I'm sorry then, I just can't do it, she went on to something else, which is my reason for this venting.
She said she was bothered by my email in regard to the copyright portion of the contract. She said she wasn't comfortable at all with me retaining copyright to the photos. She said, quote, "I really need to keep my intellectual property, because there may be some t-shirts that come out of it." Pardon me???? So I broke it down for her and explained that my photos of her paintings were MY photos, not hers. Just as my photos of her paintings didn't magically make them MY paintings. We each have our own rights to our own creation. I repeated it and used the word "art" (we have rights to the art we each create) to try to connect it for her, but it didn't happen. She just couldn't understand why the photos would not be hers because the paintings were hers.
I told her that I would be willing to engage in a discussion about selling rights to the photos and transferring them to her, but she seemed downright offended when I told her approximately how much that would cost. I said, "Well, see, I would be losing revenue from all those shirts you're talking about selling with my photos on them," but again she went back to the "it's my intellectual property because they're my paintings" bit.
I was done with the conversation at that point. I said something like listen, at this point I'm wasting my time, so it's best we stop here and I wish you all the best in finding another photographer. Not only was this her first exhibit, I learned before she called me back that these were actually the first paintings she had ever done for sale as she is taking lessons. So I ended the conversation with, "I think as you gain more experience you'll come to understand these things better. The photographs that I create are my own works of art, just as your works are your own whether they be decor art or something of a more intermediate or advanced level. Have a great day and all the best with your web site." Click. I know, that was an unnecessary dig and I should have been more grown up about it, but I was just really irked.
I've dealt with other artists before, and I always find them to be the WORST to deal with. I just don't understand it! They of all people should understand these things! But no, it's been my experience that they still want you to do the work for next to nothing (in spite of their exorbitant fees for their work) and give away the farm while you're at it!
Sorry for such a long post given my inactivity until now, but I had to get this off my chest.
Mac
This is just a "venting" post because I'm really hacked off right now. Here's the deal:
An artist had some of her paintings on exhibit in a small local gallery with other artists as well. It was a "multi-exhibit" sort of thing. I am also a painter (mostly oils, and more sketching than painting actually), but I did not know about this exhibit. A friend of mine called me and told me this particular artist needed some photos of her paintings at the exhibit. I went to the exhibit one evening a couple of weeks ago and met her. She does what we call "decor art", which entails paintings with various patterns and colors that you see in doctor's offices, business offices, etc. She wanted photos of the paintings (total of six paintings) for use on a web site she is having designed. She wanted them done in the gallery for a few reasons. In any case, I told her I would get a quote to her, which I emailed the following day.
She called me back today. She decided the price was more than she could afford. Okay, no problem. I would wish her well in finding another photographer, which of course I'm sure she can. She paused as if surprised and said, "Oh, I thought maybe we could work something out." I said sure we could, and offered a few suggestions - decreasing the number of paintings she wanted photos of, the number she wanted, etc. She didn't want to do that. The gallery lighting wasn't conducive to the actual exhibit much less the ability to shoot under, and I would need to transport and set up much more gear than usual to do it. She didn't want to give on anything. Before I could tell her well, I'm sorry then, I just can't do it, she went on to something else, which is my reason for this venting.
She said she was bothered by my email in regard to the copyright portion of the contract. She said she wasn't comfortable at all with me retaining copyright to the photos. She said, quote, "I really need to keep my intellectual property, because there may be some t-shirts that come out of it." Pardon me???? So I broke it down for her and explained that my photos of her paintings were MY photos, not hers. Just as my photos of her paintings didn't magically make them MY paintings. We each have our own rights to our own creation. I repeated it and used the word "art" (we have rights to the art we each create) to try to connect it for her, but it didn't happen. She just couldn't understand why the photos would not be hers because the paintings were hers.
I told her that I would be willing to engage in a discussion about selling rights to the photos and transferring them to her, but she seemed downright offended when I told her approximately how much that would cost. I said, "Well, see, I would be losing revenue from all those shirts you're talking about selling with my photos on them," but again she went back to the "it's my intellectual property because they're my paintings" bit.
I was done with the conversation at that point. I said something like listen, at this point I'm wasting my time, so it's best we stop here and I wish you all the best in finding another photographer. Not only was this her first exhibit, I learned before she called me back that these were actually the first paintings she had ever done for sale as she is taking lessons. So I ended the conversation with, "I think as you gain more experience you'll come to understand these things better. The photographs that I create are my own works of art, just as your works are your own whether they be decor art or something of a more intermediate or advanced level. Have a great day and all the best with your web site." Click. I know, that was an unnecessary dig and I should have been more grown up about it, but I was just really irked.
I've dealt with other artists before, and I always find them to be the WORST to deal with. I just don't understand it! They of all people should understand these things! But no, it's been my experience that they still want you to do the work for next to nothing (in spite of their exorbitant fees for their work) and give away the farm while you're at it!
Sorry for such a long post given my inactivity until now, but I had to get this off my chest.
Mac