Best Business Practices for Photographers [180]
After several months went by, I contacted the firm. Presuming that my work had been used without my permission, I posed the question, "So, how many images did you use?" To which the response was "Oh, only one." I then asked, "And, when were you going to contact me to obtain permission to use that image?" Then the design firm said that the company that had hired them and whom I had originally photographed had committed to doing that. When I asked that company about this, they said that I had already been paid by the magazine, so I was not entitled to be paid again for the use of the photograph, and that although they might have paid a few hundred to use the photo, there was "no way in Hell" they were paying $700, let alone more than that.
I prepared an invoice for the company. The original use fee would have been around $700, provided that I was contracted beforehand, but that had not occurred. The contract called for a triple penalty in this instance, as well as holding charges for all the images that had not been returned to me. With numerous images, the figure began to mount. Then, when I turned up at the company's offices to collect my transparencies, I learned that one image—the one they had used—was missing. When all was said and done, I submitted an invoice to them for $4,200. They refused to pay or even return phone calls on the matter. Some time passed, and I would often see their delivery trucks on the streets of Washington. Each time, I would get angry at myself and swear that I needed to do something. Finally, six or so months passed, and I filed my case in small claims court, which had a ceiling of $5,000 at the time.
Significant back-and-forth exchanges between their attorney and me ensued. At first, they offered $600 to settle. Next they offered $1,200. Then, they had the gall to suggest that I had no right to license commercial rights to the company because I did not have model releases from the company. I laughed and said that it was the officers of the company who had looked to secure the rights to the image in which they appeared, and as such, that was tacit permission for the use of the photograph.
With each lengthy phone call, I was aware that this attorney's time was accruing expenses, while I was not expending anything other than my spare time. The Friday before the Monday trial, their attorney called to say that their final settlement offer was being made. He outlined a slight error in my reading of my own contract, which meant that the maximum I could hope to actually get was near $2,600. He offered $1,800 and said that their offer to settle would diminish over the weekend as he expended expenses on behalf of his client, who would be more likely to make it go away by paying that money to me. Thus, I agreed to the settlement offer, not only because it was a fair offer, but moreover, because it was significantly more than the "no way in Hell" amount that one of the company's owners had emphatically and with bravado stated he'd pay. Now when I see those same trucks making deliveries, I express my satisfaction in knowing that a wrong was righted.
Chapter 21 Resolving Slow- and Non-Paying Clients
Every client for whom I provide photography services signs a contract with me, and this contract always stipulates the timeline for payment Almost always the contract is the one I presented, but in circumstances in which a client-presented contract contains nothing objectionable, I am comfortable signing theirs. The payment timeline varies. Sometimes it's "due upon receipt," "due in 30 days," or requires "full payment prior to publication." However, despite this fact, we have found over the years that when it comes to our deliverables, time is always of the essence, yet I have more than my fair share of slow-paying clients. When this happens, there is a well-worn path between my office, the accounting department, and the originating individual within the client's company.
An important rule—in fact, I'd say one of the most important rules—is, in the endeavor