If You Shoot It, You Own It.
By Kenneth Jarecke, Editor in Chief
Phil Collins and his bandmates just sold their music rights for over $300 million. The reason they could do that is because they owned the rights to their own music. The reason they owned their rights is because they never signed them away in the first place.
Luckily, if you're a creative working for yourself, you own your rights as well.
As an artist, and in this case, photographers fall into that category, if you shoot it, you own it.
With photography that's as simple as pushing a button. When you push the button it is yours, even if it's just sitting on a card in your camera. The only way you stop owning it is by signing a contract that transfers that ownership to another party.
Your work has value. That's why publishers and agencies demand that you sign away your rights as a condition to working for them.
Think about it, they're in business to make money. If they're paying you to create something for them, they're going to sell it to someone else. That's after anything they publish themselves. That's the only reason they need to own your work outright. They don't need to own your copyright just to publish your picture in a newspaper. That's what licensing fees are for.
Bob Dylan sold his music rights for about $400 million. Bruce Springsteen's rights brought him about half a billion dollars.
Unlike these guys, if you sign a work for hire agreement, which most of you do, you will never be able to profit from your work again.
All you'll get is the day-rate that you accepted in the first place after you signed their contract. What did that get you... $500 or so?
How much would it have cost you to rent the gear you used to complete that job? I'm betting more than you got paid.
Don't think that Collins, Dylan or Springsteen were never badgered by some producer or record company to sign over their rights. All of them heard the "you'll never work again" threat or "everybody does it" plea, more than once. They were broke at the time as well. They were experiencing the same financial hardships many of us are feeling today.
You are better off not getting published, not getting a sideline pass, or not having a byline in that prestigious publication, then you are working for hire. A "work for hire" (WFH) is what these terrible contracts are called. When you sign one, you've basically become a staff photographer for job. Meaning the outfit you're working for owns your work, usually forever, just like if you were an employee. The problem is you don't get the same benefits as an employee.
You get no car, no equipment, no retirement, no insurance (actually, the contract you signed probably requires you to have liability insurance to protect them), you get nothing. They get everything.
You're hurting yourself and you are also hurting the industry. The only reason work for hire contracts are offered is because people accept them. Stop accepting them and they'd stop demanding that you sign them.
Ask yourself this, if the big companies (that everyone likes to brag about working for), get all the benefits of having a staff photographer without having to pay the extra costs that go along with them, how many new staff photographers do you think they'll hire?
License your work. Don't sell it. And make sure the licensing fees you charge are pricey. Just imagine what Phil Collins would have charged you to play your wedding and react accordingly.
At The Curious Society we license the work we publish, whether that's online or in print. We're working to change things. We greatly appreciate your help and support.
Thank you.
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