Photo usage in a newsletter?

[DGMPhotography]

A client just asked me if he can use a photo, we took, in a newsletter to promote his business, and wanted to make sure that was kosher with me.

Our agreement provides for non-commercial, nom-retail usage. Would this fall into that, or no?

 

[pixmedic]

promotion for a business would indeed fall under commercial usage, i think.
they are a previous client yes? would they be willing to pay extra for rights to commercial usage?
are they likely to be return customers? sometimes its a fine line between keeping a client happy and getting walked on, but sometimes its worth more in the long run to give a little extra in the present.
you would have to decide what that commercial usage is worth and then convince the client its worth them spending the money on it.

 

[DGMPhotography]

Promotion for a business, eh? So how would social media fall under that? Most of my clients put their photos on social media, but I've never charged for licensing on that.

 

[benhasajeep]

promotion for a business would indeed fall under commercial usage, i think.
they are a previous client yes? would they be willing to pay extra for rights to commercial usage?
are they likely to be return customers? sometimes its a fine line between keeping a client happy and getting walked on, but sometimes its worth more in the long run to give a little extra in the present.
you would have to decide what that commercial usage is worth and then convince the client its worth them spending the money on it.

Agreed it deppends on future benefits from this client. One way to approach this is to talk about the non-commercial use agreement. But let them know instead of additional compensation for the rights to be modified. That they inculde full photo credit, and your site info. This way you both will benefit without additional compensation!

 

[DGMPhotography]

Bump for social media question

 

[tirediron]

As far as I know, there's no difference from a legal standpoint between promotion on social media, on a billboard alongside the highway, or an advert in the local newspaper. This is definitely commercial use, even if it's disguised as "social media". That said, as the others have mentioned, there may be future benefits, so consider that carefully in your decision.

 

[JonA_CT]

Must be a good client, honestly, because he actually asked before he used it.

 

[Gary A.]

US law separates photo useage into Commercial (marketing) and Editorial (news and 'art'). It all depends how the photo would be used. In a newsletter, the photo could be used as news to accompany an editorial story. In which case it would not be considered of "commercial' content. But if it is used as an advertisement promoting a product or company without any editorial/news accompaniment ... than it most likely would be considered commercial instead of editorial. A newsletter can be either a strict advertisement ... a news/editorial organ or somewhere in between. Without seeing the newsletter it is a tough call ... it could be a tough call even after reviewing the newsletter.

If you're up to speed on all the rutkus resulting from the Russian use/purchasing of ads on social media in order to influence the presidential election ... you see a huge gray area in our laws pertaining to social media ... I dunno how our archaic US laws treat social media.

Not knowing anything about your business or client ... I just say go with your gut feeling on what's best for your company. Provide the client with a general waiver to use said images should you go in that direction or a typical usage agreement/charge if you go in the other direction.

There is actually a lot going on pertaining to your question requiring more information than provided.

 

[vintagesnaps]

'to promote his business' - that sounds like commercial (business) use. If the photo would accompany a newsletter article that wasn't necessarily related to his business, that might be editorial.

Usage should be licensed, even if the payment/compensation takes into account past and future potential photography work from this same client. It should be specific in purpose, time frame, etc. NOT being able to use the photo from now til doomsday for whateverthehell he wants as many times as he wants.

Get on a professional photographers' organization website like American Society of Media Photographers - Homepage or PPA and start looking up and learning this stuff - you're going to need to know it.

 

[DGMPhotography]

He's actually a good friend of mine, and we often share stories and business ideas.

I ended up giving him a good deal for a 1 year use license for the newsletter and print newspaper. We're both pretty happy with it, and the company that he's doing the newsletter with actually really liked my photo so that may end up being business for me.