The only way you're ever going to be able to quantify the value of your investment in time and registration fees, will be the day you take a brief into the offices of an Intellectual Property (copyright) Lawyer, when and/or if he accepts the case.
It is one thing to sue mega corporations for an infringement of copyright law, there is enough money in the pot to attract the attourneys, but if some high school kid from the local projects steals one of your images, then you're on a loser because no lawyer in this country is going to waste time on a case with no money in it.
So my philosophy hasn't changed
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
I don't post here very much, mainly lurk, but I'd thought that I would offer up my experiences.
I am not a pro by any means but after shooting in the same type of environment I have gotten pretty decent.I shoot my wifes students at dance at competitions. I shoot only her students and I offer the pictures to the parents about half the price that they would pay at the event.
Why do I do this? Main reason is that I have to be there anyway. Another is that my wife and the dancers use the pictures to critique the dances. I usually get the group shots where the photographer for the event gets the 1-3 person shots. My pictures usually turn out better that the onsite person mainly because I know the dances and I know which shots that I am looking for and can plan for them. Thirdly in the rules of the compeition it says no flash photography and no video cameras.
Why do I offer them for sale? To help fund the camera and lens' and my time posting them to the web.
What I have experienced ...
Parents will buy from an event photographer, even though they know I'm taking pictures, because of instant availability and convience. I have even had them buy from the event photographer and me also. I usually make about $100 a competition.
I do not bother the event photographer. I will go check out their prices and quality and compare them to mine. I could go around promoting my pictures to parents at the competition but I'm either too busy shooting or cannot get up from my seat in fear of loosing it.
Most of the people that come with DSLR's do not have glass that is fast enough for the low light conditions. Most of the people there are shooting their own kid and maybe a few others.
So I guess I am a partial poacher, as I don't shoot all of the events. I just thought that my experience might shed a different light on the thread and not get flamed too bad.
Larry
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
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I would imagine that if you tried hard enough and searched long enough you might find someone capable of scanning just about anything. Is it worth spending $50 to buy a print to spend who knows how much to scan the print to end up with a digital file that is of lesser quality than the orginal that can be licensed for $35?
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Norm has just about convinced me to stop offering 4x6 prints altogether... [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
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It is one thing to sue mega corporations for an infringement of copyright law, there is enough money in the pot to attract the attorneys, but if some high school kid from the local projects steals one of your images, then you're on a loser because no lawyer in this country is going to waste time on a case with no money in it.
So my philosophy hasn't changed
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At least if you have your images registered, it's a slam dunk for a lawyer to send a canned copyright letter to anyone using your images for monetary gain. I agree with you regarding the high school kid though...no point in going after that as monetary gain is not likely to be part of the equation in that kind of case.
However, in a far-fetched scenario, if the high school kid were ever to use your images to make money (i.e. copy all your images from a game and sell prints to other kids' parents), you can use small claims court. You file a brief, show up with your registered copyright proof and walk away with a winning judgment at minimal legal investment.
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
It is one thing to sue mega corporations for an infringement of copyright law, there is enough money in the pot to attract the attorneys, but if some high school kid from the local projects steals one of your images, then you're on a loser because no lawyer in this country is going to waste time on a case with no money in it.
So my philosophy hasn't changed
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Well, unfortunately if your image isn't registered, and it is used by a mega corporation, you won't find an attorney who will waste the time on your case either. If your image isn't registered, there's very little money available, even from a deep pocket, mega corporation. Again, the cost and time required to register your images is minuscule compared to the protection it provides. How much do you spend on business insurance each year?
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
couple of comments.
1. What about a team that contracts its own photographer?
had a local soccer team hire me to photograph them in a major tournament. Paid my fee and expenses. Tournament had a "contracted" outfit with trailer set-up. They complained to the folks running the tournament who came to tell me I could not shoot - about half time. Team coach/sponsor told them I was hired to shoot just his team and no one else would be allowed to shoot them. He then told the tournament folks to go look at his sign up sheets which he had altered to make StarKey Photography the sole authorized photographer of his team and they had signed!!
His team refused to take the field when the "contract" photographer showed up. While the coach and tourney director were yelling at each other, I went over to the trailer and talked with the owner. Made an agreement that i would shoot all the Abilene team's games, let him download my cards and sell to the other team (he offered his standard shooting commission - I offered them free) but my contracted team got the CD they had already paid for. Then we went over to the field and informed the yelling folks that a deal had been made. Not everybody is as reasonable as the photographers in this case.
2. Sometimes the poachers can get the contracted photographer in police trouble. Was contracted to photograph a USSSA World girl's fast pitch tournament. 2nd day of the tournament, the police show up with a complaint that one of my photographer's had propositioned a 15 year old to do nude photographs. As luck was, all three of us were there along with the tourney director - We asked the police LT to have the parent identify the culprit and she said "he's not one of these" and the tourney director told the police that we three were the only authorized photographers. Police were going to arrest me as the contractor being responsible for the photographer!!! One of my photographers remembered the person and told police he had thought the person was a parent but had a photo of him posing a team. Parent - yes that's him and they went away but it could have been a really bad mess.
Joe Starkey
Abilene, TX
People and Sports
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
In the first example, I'm glad that you were able to work things out. My feeling though is that the Team was out of line. they are participating in a tournament organized by someone else. As such they are required to play by the host's rules. I suspect that next year there will be a clause that will spell this out. For example all of the high schools in this state sell tee shirts of their team to raise money. At the state sectionals, playoffs, and finals, which are hosted by a high school on a rotation, ONLY MIAA tee shirts can be sold. The hosting high school can't sell any team items. It the leagues rule. They're hosting the event and as such get to make the rules.
In the second example I would be setting up a meeting with the police department. If you are member of the PPA I would call ASAP and speak to the legal dept. There is NO WAY IN H#LL I would let that one slide.
Eric
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
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