| Re: Rights Grabbing Photo Competitions Consumer Report
Colin,
You are so correct, these companies (newpapers and magazine are now doing the same) know what they are doing when trying to get the images for free.
Here is an even more typical spin I have been running into the last few years.
We shoot mainly horse shows and dog shows.
In the horse world, we are photographing the Olympic level riders regularly and I count many of them as friends. We are constantly asked about using our images for advertising for various products using these people and the horses images. The professional riders are great about sending the company to us for the images they are looking for. A deal is brokered and everyone wins.
The trouble comes when it is not the professional rider but it is the owner of the dog or horse that calls to ask about using an image.
Here is the typical scenario that is happening ever frequently.
I get a call from the owner of the animal or parent of the rider saying that such and such company wants to use their dog/horse/son/daughter in its advertising, and they sent the image (a Print) to the company and it is the perfect image. The company/newspaper/publication wants to use it, and the entity asked them to contact us for permission.
Can they please please please please please please please pleeeeeeeeeease use it?
The owner/parent of course expects me to be as excited as they are that the company/newspaper/publication wants to use my image. They expect us to just say "YES!" Here is where it starts getting tough.
Through trial and error, I have found that most importantly I really need to get the owner/parent out of the loop and to get the name and contact info of whomever they are talking to from the company. I need to contact that person about getting paid.
But they of course do not want to talk to me, I am going to ask for money for my work. They want the pressure coming from the owner/parent and all that emotion. They are hoping that I will cave in to the owner/parent howling that you are impeding in their animal's/child's "rise to the top". The promises of "I am sure this will lead to more work" to "I will make sure you never work here again", can be quite convincing.
So as quickly as possible, I try to get the contact info for the company/newspaper/publication from the caller by telling them that I will need to talk to the company about image file sizes, where to send the image file and such. Nothing about money or usage or anything like that which would trigger an emotional response or even put thoughts into their head that I might not do it. I need them out of the loop as quick as possible.
We started using an agent last year that handles the negotiations for us now, so our emotions are also removed from the negotiations, except for the initial contact, image delivery and getting the check.
We can focus on photography. We are making about the same yearly in fees as before, even after the agents commission and the "no goes", but have a whole lot less headache and heartache.
The response from some of the companies ranges from quite funny to quite rude when the agent calls and identifies herself. The one call I listened to, the contact person was indignant that an agent for a photographer was calling to talk to them about getting paid. They tried all the typical "we will of course give total photography credit" to "if you give us a deal on this one, I am sure we can work together in the future" to "we don't really have any money budgeted for that."
Our agent has been in that persons shoes (she did this work for a company) and knows exactly what they are doing and how to handle them. In that particular instance she was able to negotiate higher fees than even she expected, as she was able to provide some unique insight about the ad campaign because she knew that side of the business.
I have found that even having an "agent" at the everyday show, someone at the show taking the orders, cuts down on folks asking for more "deals" vs when they are talking to me directly. They cannot get the same emotional bonds with someone working for you as they can on you personally, so they don't even try.
__________________
Jeffrey Nye
Xpress Foto | 
Muse 
Linear Mode
