Copyright - what's it worth..?

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stevewestern

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I am taking some pictures of a party soon, which will have some fairly high powered and wealthy people present. I have been asked if I will sell the 'negatives' (ie copyright) to my clients, and am wondering what sort of value to put on them - any ideas ??
They have also ask to buy the copyright of family pictures - again, what sort of price sounds fair ?

Do I work on roughly what sort of sales I might be loosing from copys of prints or what ?

Thanks for any help on this !
Steve
 
Can you clarify - does the client want to purchase sole rights to the photos or just rights for a particular use?
 
It sounds like he wants the sole rights, handed over, lock stock and barrel.
 
As Marcel says - Sole rights,total ownership of the whole lot..!
I guess he jut wants to preserve his privacy, and that of his clients - He is also a friend of mine, so I am keen to keep it that way, but he has offered to buy them, and I have no idea whatsoever to ask..
 
One way of looking at it is that he want to buy your time and expertise. The pictures come as a result of that.

How much do you, and your client (Friend) value your time and expertise.
 
If it's a friend I'd just ask him to pay what he thinks they're worth and leave it at that...
 
It depends how much of a professional job this is. If its a favour for a close friend, you can even hand them over, and ask for a token for your time.

You may even work out a flat fee for your time (including the processing, dont forget), and then hand the works over at the end.

It also depends on what the shots are worth to YOU.
 
Well, his wife asked me to take some pictures of the family, and told me how they used to use a guy who chared them £360 for the session, and £40 per 10x8" print (hand printed B and W's)
I took some, they liked and have bought some copies. They also asked me to do the pictures at his business party (he is a big-time banker, has his clients flown in, and wants some pictures of the event) I set up a photobox pro site with them as the only people with access to the account -ie I told no-one but them of the site address, so that they could buy prints as they wished, with me getting some profit from the reprints. They are slightly scared of going public, as it were, and want to buy the copyright to secure their privacy.
They are trying to help me to earn money from photography, as I am less able to earn as a builder, as my body is getting less able.
I do not want to turn it into an issue, but then again, neither do I want to loose out too much - what the shots are worth to me is a hard one to answer - I know the clients can and are happy to pay well, but I do not want to exploit. I have asked her for a nominal sum for work and prints supplied, and she says I have not asked enough, so what do I do ???

All points to the basic case of giving a clear price and getting it all sorted beforehand, but I didn't....
 
steveinspain said:
Well, his wife asked me to take some pictures of the family, and told me how they used to use a guy who chared them £360 for the session, and £40 per 10x8" print (hand printed B and W's)
I took some, they liked and have bought some copies. They also asked me to do the pictures at his business party (he is a big-time banker, has his clients flown in, and wants some pictures of the event) I set up a photobox pro site with them as the only people with access to the account -ie I told no-one but them of the site address, so that they could buy prints as they wished, with me getting some profit from the reprints. They are slightly scared of going public, as it were, and want to buy the copyright to secure their privacy.
They are trying to help me to earn money from photography, as I am less able to earn as a builder, as my body is getting less able.
I do not want to turn it into an issue, but then again, neither do I want to loose out too much - what the shots are worth to me is a hard one to answer - I know the clients can and are happy to pay well, but I do not want to exploit. I have asked her for a nominal sum for work and prints supplied, and she says I have not asked enough, so what do I do ???

All points to the basic case of giving a clear price and getting it all sorted beforehand, but I didn't....
Click to expand...

As its for a friend albeit a wealthy one, could you afford to under-cut the previous guy by 50%? (time and prints)I am sure they wouldn't argue with that, if you could "afford" it yourself :shrug:
 
steveinspain said:
I have asked her for a nominal sum for work and prints supplied, and she says I have not asked enough, so what do I do ???
Click to expand...

I still say ask them to pay what they think is fair, I suspect it will be more than you'd ask for.
 
Cobra said:
As its for a friend albeit a wealthy one, could you afford to under-cut the previous guy by 50%? (time and prints)I am sure they wouldn't argue with that, if you could "afford" it yourself :shrug:
Click to expand...

I think I agree with this, half the price of the last guy is a fair amount for you to earn from someone that is a friend that can ably afford it, without exploiting or jeopardising their friendship and hopefully any further work from them. Having the cost of the last effort actually gives you a good stick to mark by. Make sure you make it clear that you don't want any more from them, but should any of their friends enquire about your services, they would be charged 'the going rate' ;)
 
Thanks for all the advice - I think I will tell them to give me what they feel is right, but suggest that half the last guys rate sounds right to me...
 
If he is a friend, AND, has good connections it might be worth while to possibly not even charge him for this one as long as he can get you a client base with his connections. That would earn you more money in the long run. Just make sure you do the absolute best job you can to impress :)
 
He IS a friend - I have done their building work for 15 years, they have me over to dinner, they send out the clothes their kids have grown out of for my kids, and when his wife got cancer, I was one of the first she told (after Hubby and kids, of course..)
There may well be more work coming from it, but they are almost trying to help me get into earning from photography, and wouldn't want me to do the work free or even cheaply. His wife is still telling me I ought to be charging them more (when I stopped working for a major client of mine due to politics, she told me to come stay with them, they would pay me more than I was getting, and they didn't have anything for me to do but they just wanted me to be earnng. They have a cleaner who came every day when they went away for a month, partly to clean after I demolished their bathroom, but mainly as she needs the money. They are fab people)
I have emailed them to say what I want, and expect to be told it is not enough - Blimey - I never realised it would be so hard being a photographer....!
 
Hey Steve

It seems to me that you have a very fair approach here, and I wish you well with this client. Can I make a suggestion too - which has already been alluded to here on tp in part at least, so I don't want the credit for this suggestion.

It might be a good idea to 'talk business' with this friend of yours. You have already mentioned that he has many business friends and regularly flies people to his parties etc, these friends sound as though they too are in business, so... if you discussed and asked him for a client list, and emailed or called or snail-mailed them, or even offered attendance at his Christmas party with a view to procuring additional business and selling more prints - would be a great way to go. You'd get the reference off a well respected business man, and a new long list of possible clients who could offer you significant new revenue opportunities.

One key factor in the success of many businesses Steve is successful networking. Having access to influential people is party to this success, and your friend sounds as though he is a fantastic help here.

OK for sure, charge your friend what you and he feels is a fair price, but I'd say there is significant mileage in being able to contact his clients/business associates etc for you to increase your potential revenue.

Just a thought...
 
John - good point, and one I had not really pick up on and digested..
My man invests over a billion for his few clients, so we are talking very weathy - not the sort that I could approach in any way, but my man is also very easy and would certainly put me in touch with anyone who asked, and I am not going to be at this party just as a photographer - I imagine I will be introduced to all, and them to me. He has done just that in the past, when I have been working on his house, covered in dust, and been told 'Ah Steve, this is John, one of my clients' - John has replied - Steve, Alan (my man, but renamed) has talked about you....
So, looks like I need to take some good pictures, not letch over anyones wives and be my usual entertaining self, but be sure to take a bunch of business cards with me - Steve Powell, Photographer, Builder to the stars and last of the International Lovers. Call me on 43097587. Special rates for the International Lovers bit.
Sound about right ??
 
Spot on mate... does your wife agree with that content... ;)
 
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