Commercial Photography FAQ’s
A business should portray a great image at all times, with fresh vibrant images in the face of your customers you can give the impression that your business is competitive, modern and professional. Hiring a photographer to get these messages across to your target audience can be a minefield fraught with personality clashes, copyright problems and worries about creativity. Choosing the right photographer for the job who will protect the interests of you as the client is the first step in the process, so I have written some Frequently Asked Questions and their Answers to dispel any myths surrounding commercial photography.
If you have any further questions than the ones here then please get in touch and ask away, if they are relevant I will add them here.
What is the difference between Commercial and Consumer Photography?
It is important to understand the difference between photography for the average consumer (weddings and family portraits) and commercial photography. Photography such as wedding and portraiture provide a product to the retail customer in the form of an album or framed portrait. Photography for commercial publication provides a service as opposed to a product. This means that the final user (the client), who uses an image in his or her brochure, advertisement or catalog, are paying for permission to reproduce that image or images in their proposed publication. The photographer retains the copyright (ownership) of the image at all times and is, essentially, licensing the image for a particular use and period of time.
A Work-for-hire contract is one of the exceptions to this rule. Most photographers will avoid Work-for-hire contracts as it means they are to give away all rights to the images they create. If you feel as a client, that it is important to own the copyright of photographs created for you, then another option is the “buyout.” This will normally cost more than double the photographers normal fee.
What is a Licence, in regards to commercial photography?
A licence, in effect, is written instructions agreed in discussion between client and photographer that details the final usage of specific images…
A licence will describe what, where and for how long the images may be used, (ie: website usage for two years or internal marketing use for 12 months from the date of delivery). It will also have specific information about copyright ownership, client information and further distribution rights.
When reading through a licence it may seem that clients are heavily restricted, but licences are drawn up to protect both parties for the intended (paid for) use of the finished pictures. A copy of the licence will be added to the images file information (xmp) this can be referenced at a later date to clarify image usage well after the images have been delivered.
You must remember that a new licence can be written for your images in agreement with your photographer at any point, however, this will inevitably involve further costs. It is important to get your intended usage nailed down early to save any bother and further expense.
