Posted by Mike Sellers on June 12, 2010 at 9:30 AM
I am represented by an art licensing agent and I am about to launch my own website with Photoshelter.Do I have the legal right to sell an image that is already licensed by my Agent as long as it is for a different use?
It's all in the licensing agreement you negotiate with the rights buyer. If you sell them "single use" rights, they've got no claim on how else you use the photo. If they're buying exclusive use from you, they (and you) should expect a lot more cash on the table. A whole lot more cash!
You need to check with your licensing agent. Is your agent a stock agency? I have image exclusive contracts with the agencies that represent me and I am allowed to market my own work. If I sell exclusive rights to an image that the agency also has then I just let them know the rights that I granted for that specific image.
Posted by Mike Sellers on June 12, 2010 at 5:35 PM
My dilema is that the website that I am about to launch is Photoshelter which uses Photoquote to set licensing fees for rights managed sales which allows a buyer to pick the use then download it automatically with no input from me. Well,my licensing agent handles paper products such as posters,postcards etc. so what if he licenses one of my images for say posters with exclusive rights for 5 years then a buyer picks the same image on Photoshelter and licenses it for posters? Isn`t this a conflict of interest?
The scenario you describe is a conflict of interest. If you sell the image via Photoshelter for a poster, for example, then just let your agent know and they can restrict that images' use to everything but posters. The problem, as I see it, arises if your agent sells an image for a certain usage; can you then restrict what usages/rights Photoshelter grants for that same image??
Posted by Mike Sellers on June 12, 2010 at 8:32 PM
Yes,I can restrict the useage rights thru Photoshelter. Would it be possible for me to contact a buyer and stop the transaction after the fact and return their money? Is that ethical?
I've never been in that situation and I would do whatever necessary to avoid it in the first place. Not only would it be embarrasing for you but often time buyers put alot of time and money in selecting images that suit their needs. Not only that but they are usually working to beat a deadline and if you yank that image from them right before they go to press (or try to shortly after they go to press)....
If you are able to restrict usage rights through both Photoshelter and your agent then you should never have to worry about a conflict. I've been selling my own work for 20+ years and have been with agencies for at least that long and have never had a problem....and we have the same images to work with.
In all honesty the odds of two buyers wanting the same image for the same usage at the same time are pretty small. Just do your best to keep agent and PS notified of rights you grant (and they need to do the same for you) and all should be fine.
And, of course, the only time you need to worry about any of this is when dealing with exclusive rights managed sales; no worries when dealing with non-exclusive RM sales of the same image even if it's for the same usage.
Interesting (and useful) discussion for me. We don't deal through agents or stock agencies, so my perspective is from the standpoint of a client asking us for exclusive use of a photo. Sock it to 'em Baby!
We license our work for specific uses and time periods, in addition to the shooting fees we collect for doing the photography. And the license fees often dwarf the hourly fees we charge for shooting.
With that insight fresh in your mind, I'll offer the following:
It's up to YOU to monitor the terms, duration and compliance in any agreement. We literally mark a calendar with the names and end dates of licenses. And more importantly, we also mark a day several months prior to send a reminder about the approaching end of the contract period.
Some clients choose to re-license the same images, but due to careful phrasing we've evolved, more of them prefer to "refresh" the image with a replacement for a new contract period. If there's one "secret" to our success over the years, it's been developing and sustaining long term client relations. By keeping track and keeping good relations with the clients, we manage many sales that other photographers never get a shot at.
Take what you can from that insight in your own marketing methods, but for the long term growth of your business, at least pay attention to contract periods whether or not you can parlay that into additional sales leading to your own stable of regular clients.
Posted by Richard Wong on June 13, 2010 at 4:01 PM
Mike - you can set your Photoshelter account to let you approve or disapprove transactions before they are completed so I wouldn't worry about that. Plus you can set different pricing profiles for different images so there is some degree of customization.
Posted by Mike Sellers on June 13, 2010 at 4:10 PM
Richard,I haven`t found how to set it to let me approve transactions. Can you tell me how to set that?
Posted by Richard Wong on June 14, 2010 at 12:59 AM
I logged in and tried it for myself - if you go to pricing profiles, it will have a check box next to approve print orders. Unfortunately it doesn't appear to allow you to do that for licensing though.
If automated licensing concerns you, then I would just not put a licensing profile on the images and have them email you for info.
Discussion
10 repliesIf you are able to restrict usage rights through both Photoshelter and your agent then you should never have to worry about a conflict. I've been selling my own work for 20+ years and have been with agencies for at least that long and have never had a problem....and we have the same images to work with.
In all honesty the odds of two buyers wanting the same image for the same usage at the same time are pretty small. Just do your best to keep agent and PS notified of rights you grant (and they need to do the same for you) and all should be fine.
And, of course, the only time you need to worry about any of this is when dealing with exclusive rights managed sales; no worries when dealing with non-exclusive RM sales of the same image even if it's for the same usage.
We license our work for specific uses and time periods, in addition to the shooting fees we collect for doing the photography. And the license fees often dwarf the hourly fees we charge for shooting.
With that insight fresh in your mind, I'll offer the following:
It's up to YOU to monitor the terms, duration and compliance in any agreement. We literally mark a calendar with the names and end dates of licenses. And more importantly, we also mark a day several months prior to send a reminder about the approaching end of the contract period.
Some clients choose to re-license the same images, but due to careful phrasing we've evolved, more of them prefer to "refresh" the image with a replacement for a new contract period. If there's one "secret" to our success over the years, it's been developing and sustaining long term client relations. By keeping track and keeping good relations with the clients, we manage many sales that other photographers never get a shot at.
Take what you can from that insight in your own marketing methods, but for the long term growth of your business, at least pay attention to contract periods whether or not you can parlay that into additional sales leading to your own stable of regular clients.
If automated licensing concerns you, then I would just not put a licensing profile on the images and have them email you for info.