• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 4195 0

how clients are demanding WMFH contracts, and legal departments everywhere seem to want that language in their contracts. Okay, put it in and have it apply when you are paid an appropriate fee (as deemed by you) and you agree specifically to it in writing. I have the good fortune of having a few clients for whom I am on a retainer. I am blessed that they call often enough that they don't want to have to sign off on fees and expenses and rights packages every time. So, we set forth an agreement for all work performed for them. This is essentially the same way a magazine handles assignments you do for them—they present the contract, you sign once, and everything completed for them after that is under those terms. Here's how I have handled WMFH in my corporate contracts, where the lawyers on the other side wanted to see the words "work made for hire" in the contract:

Licenses or permissions not expressly stated in this agreement shall not be implied, and all rights not expressly granted to Client are reserved to Photographer. Except in the case of work made for hire, or where provided for in a written agreement between Client and Photographer, licenses and permissions expressly exclude derivative rights. Except in the case of work made for hire or as expressly authorized in writing by the Photographer, work may not be archived or placed in any electronic catalog or electronic delivery service. Work which is to be created as and priced as "work made for hire," if any, shall be specified in writing signed by the Photographer. As to all work, Photographer specifically retains the right to use and display Photographer's work for portfolio purposes.

In this example, the language is in the contract, but in order for the work to actually be work for hire, there has to be a separate agreement specifically stating that and signed by me. Further, as noted above, it has to be priced as such. To date, none of the work done under contracts that include this language has been deemed as such.

You Don't "Sell" Anything

Whether you are just starting out as a young photographer or transitioning from staff to freelance, it is critical that you understand that you are not "selling" anything. Before you can step up to the plate and change a client's thinking on who owns the photography that you create, you must first be definitive about this fact: You create images that you own and then, in turn, license to your client. For more information on the difference between "sell" and "license," see the section "Licensing Your Work" in Chapter 26.

Recommended Reading

The final section of this chapter includes some recommended further reading for you.

General Books on Negotiating

Camp, Jim. Start with NO...The Negotiating Tools that the Pros Don't Want You to Know(Crown Business, 2002).

Cohen, Herb. You Can Negotiate Anything (Bantam, 1982).

Fisher, Roger, William L. Ury, Bruce Patton, and Bruce Patton. Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In (Penguin, 1991).

Ury, William. Getting Past No: Negotiating Your Way from Confrontation to Cooperation(Bantam, 1993).

Books on Negotiating Developed by and for Photographers

Pickerell, Jim. Negotiating Stock Photo Prices (Stock Connection, 1997).

Wesigrau, Richard. The Photographer's Guide to Negotiating (Allworth Press, 2005).

Chapter 8 Overhead: Why What You Charge a Client Must Be More Than You Paid for It

Overhead consists of those expenses directly associated with the production of your photographic services. A few of the numerous examples of overhead include office supplies, from paper for your printers to staples and pens; utilities, including electricity, gas, high-speed data lines, and so on; advertising and accounting; and some might suggest computers and cameras, although those might be debatable, instead allocated as "cost of goods sold" items or such.

Overhead is one of the categories of expenses that photographers most often fail to include accurately in their cost of doing business, and thus they will incorrectly attribute these expenses to the