Copyright/Image Usage is something I deal with on every project I work on. For every single one of the projects I have worked on I retain the copyright to all of my images.

For example in my contract it states;

“Copyright

The Client acknowledges that The Photographer is the first and sole owner of all copyright of the work(s) covered in this agreement and that The Photographer shall remain the sole owner of any and all photographs, or any materials used to produce and/or reproduce the photographs, as well as all copyright. All rights not expressly granted under this agreement remain the exclusive property of The Photographer.

The Client may not assign or transfer this license, or any part of it, without The Photographer?s prior written consent. Upon default, the license will be deemed cancelled.”

By maintaining the ©opyright I ensure that my images will not be duplicated without my knowledge. Just as you wouldn’t make a copy of an Iron Man 2 DVD, my clients don’t copy the files I give them and provide them to other companies/users.

Now you’re probably wondering “How does the client/s use the images you’ve created?” I provide them usage based on what we have outlined in the contract. Projects can be based on single users or multiple users, some regional and some international. Usage costs depend on the scale of the production, media buy and length of usage. For a rough example to show scale; a one time print in a magazine with 100,000 readers a 1/4 page could start from $350, a cover photo with distribution of 4,000,000 could start from $4,500.

Copyright and Usage can be a tricky subject so I’m trying to do my part by getting the knowledge out there so people are aware of the fact that photographer’s images are their livelihood. Any photographer that is able to give away his images for free will not be able to afford to do so very long…