PDN Edu - Spring 2016

Photographers can generate revenue from both securing commissions to create new photographs and generating income from managing the value of existing photographs. Understanding the value of copyright is key to success as a professional photographer, along with negotiating fair terms and maintaining accurate sales records to support and protect the value of your work.

COPYRIGHT BASICS

You hold the copyright for your original works, and have the right to control the commercial rights to your images throughout your lifetime, plus 70

additional years by your heir(s) or designated representatives. After this ownership period expires, your original works become “public domain” with the rights to your work shared by everyone.

Images for which you own the copyright can be licensed again and again. Opportunities can include advertising campaigns, magazine or book covers, product packaging design, communication graphics in museum or institutional settings and images produced as wall décor for hotel chains, among many other uses. Keep precise records of what works you’ve licensed, the fees, terms of use, where and how the image was featured and the license expiration dates. Lastly, I encourage you to register your images with the U.S. Copyright office to better protect yourself, should you have to defend your copyright against a violation.

CONTRACT BASICS

When you are contracted to create new work, you will decide and negotiate what rights the client has to reproduce the images you create: Can they be featured only once (the cover of one issue of a magazine) or multiple times (an ad campaign appearing for a specific length of time)? Unless you agree that upon completion you will transfer copyright of the work to the commissioning client (which I do not recommend, as you are giving up any chance for future revenue from those images), you continue to own the rights to the work you created and can offer them to additional buyers, renegotiating terms with each usage. The same principles apply when you are asked to license work from your personal projects.

It is important to define each usage in detail so that when reproduction rights are requested you are able to state with authority that you have or have not allowed a specific image to be featured within ad campaigns for a particular market (i.e.

healthcare, travel, sports), and if so, when the rights you granted expire (six months, one year, three years and so forth).

If you allow an image to be featured in a campaign for a particular airline for example, it would not be wise to offer the image to a competing airline, or even a cruise line. Similarly, if an image is featured on the cover of a work of fiction, the accuracy of your record-keeping will prevent you from accidentally granting permission to feature the same image on a book produced by a rival publisher unless those rights have expired.

Value for reproduction rights is determined by two overriding factors: the size of your image within the overall design, and the size of the audience for the final product. The cover of a best-selling novel will have more value than the book of an unknown author, as more copies will be printed. The full front cover of a book or magazine has more impact and value than an interior quarter-page reproduction. Similarly, prominent placement on the home page of a website commands more value than being featured deep within the website.

There are a few other things to consider when licensing your work. If you do not wish for your image as presented to be altered (cropped, flipped, tinted, etc.), alert the client early in the conversation. It is also important to prove you possess any applicable model or property releases. You can also request to see the layout that will feature your images; this will allow you to confirm the details you agreed to.

These essential business details may be better handled by a licensing agency that will advocate on your behalf and secure essential documentation to accompany every sale. I encourage all of you to plan on being your own agent, however, until such time that you have amassed a collection that an agency wishes to represent. EDU

Mary Virginia Swanson is the director of LOOK3 and an award-winning educator, author, mentor and entrepreneur in the field of photography. Visit her website at mvswanson.com.

Mary Virginia Swanson

Advises on Licensing Existing Work

A new client is interested in licensing some of my photographs. What do I need to know before signing a contract?

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NIKON NEWS — At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this past January, Nikon unveiled its first product in the action-camera market for travel, sports and adventure photographers. The Nikon KeyMission 360 is a 360 degree 4K UHD video camera that will withstand rugged conditions. Shockproof, waterproof, freezeproof and dustproof, the KeyMission 360 features an image sensor and lens on opposite sides of the device to produce 360-degree still images and video. More from Nikon’s new lineup of action cameras and accessories will be available this spring.