A few questions.....concerning copyright, compensation, etc.....
A friend of mine asked if he could use my work in an advertising poster, and I agreed as long as credit was provided. I sent him the file. When everything was said and done, the poster came out looking much different than my original photo and absolutely beautiful. It had not occurred to me that they might be sold, but I can see people buying this poster.
Do I have any right to ask for a compensation if the posters are sold?
If so, how much? A percentage?
In the future, is there a standard term of compensation for such things? For example, I also am a songwriter and record music. If a vocalist harmonized on my album, they would be given credit and compensated at the time of recording, or I might offer them a certain percentage of album sales if I couldn't afford to pay them at the time. Is there an equivalent to this in using photographs?
Any assistance you can provide, collective friends, would be much appreciated. :)
Tags: compensation, copyright, credit
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Michael Stepp on -
I think the rule of thumb is that if you don't have a contract all bets are off. Plus you allowed him to use it provided you got credit. If they are selling it as a print I would imagine they would need a copy right release from you to do that. Ive done something like this three times but each time I had a limited copyright release to sign that spelled out the terms.
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Permalink Reply by Kim Moore O'Daniel on -
Hello:) I'm gonna be very interested to hear the opinions on this topic. In my opinion. Being that you agreed to let the said party use your image with the only contingency being that you get credit. I'd say you should just learn a lesson from this & just let it go. I think it's just the right thing to do & if it does end up being a profit for the other party, so be it. You are still gonna get some great exposure. :) This is just my 2 cents though. You don't wanna burn a bridge over it. If the image is way more fabulous with the work the other person put into it, I'd say they earned it in a round about way. Can we see the poster? Upload it with your original image:)
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Permalink Reply by Kim Weber on -
Thanks, Michael....was the copyright release provided or did you write it up?I'm also curious about what kind of terms a copyright release should involve. Is there a standard percentage for using someone's image?
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Permalink Reply by bill ivester on -
has he expressly said he was going to offer the poster for sale yet? if not, and he did specifically say "advertising poster" (my position, if i were you, would be that you approved useage for promotional purposes/use only) i'd approach it as...
"hey, i have an idea! since this turned out so well, why not..." and make him an offer (then firm it up in writing immediately afterwards) to use it for retail.
bottom line, legally, you're prob have no arguement but; a) they may not have thought of your idea and maybe it could make you both a little $$, or b) if it's a good friend and/or a 'good guy' maybe they'll realize you didn't think about it being sold and they'll do the right thing, or c) he'll tell you to kiss off and you learn a lesson.
imho, worth the conversation, good luck...
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Permalink Reply by Kim Weber on
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Thanks Bill....this has crossed my mind, too.....I might try it that way.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Stepp on
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They had it written up already, but I have one of my own that was pretty much the same. I don't think there is a standard. I think a lot depends on the company your dealing with. I think Ryan can probably tell you way more on that since he deals with that all the time.
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