Hey fellas!

I got the following email via "flick mail". I need to know what you all would do. Especially those of you who actually get paid for their work. I have NO IDEA if this is legit or what I should ask if it is legit. I don't think I want to sell all my rights for the shot away...

What do you guys think???

 

I'd put it up over at 500px and send them over there

 

I'd get a license contract drawn up stating what they can and can't use the photo for and what fee you are requesting to license it for. Make sure that everything is in writing and they sign off on it before you send them the photo.

Seems legit to me, congrats on some great exposure (pun intended)!

 

haha...thanks! I sent her an email asking a few questions and I haven't heard back. So, I'm thinking they've moved on.

 

I heard back from them. It seems they want to "buy the rights" to my shot. wtf does that mean? Does the price go up for that?

 

you need to find out what the delivery method is. it sounds like they want the full-res digital file. that along with the "rights" is a pretty big package.

 

PTTL,

I am concerned that THEY don't know what they are doing.

Are they asking for exclusive rights (ONLY they can use it) and if so, is it JUST for this stated purpose or for any commercial venture from here on out?

Are they asking for non-exclusive rights, meaning you can sell the image to others as well?

Are they asking for a one-time use rights to use the image ONLY once and for the stated purpose?

I would ask them to send over their standard agreement for purchasing the photo and see what it says.

 

This is what I've gotten so far:

I ased them:
Thoughts?

 

How "big" do you think? I have NO frame of reference. Thanks man!

 

Sell it for 10k firm no low ballers/ tire kickers/ no joyriders/ dreamers see what they say

 

Translate this post into professional questions and send it over. It's a good place to start.

Price depends on volume. Ask them how many replicates they plan on making, etc... If they have no clue then the ball is in your court and I'd aim high with the option to negotiate. Chances are they have no idea what they want to pay and will take it. Be clear of what their use is, how many replicates they plan on making (what is their circulation for this thing), and how long they want exclusive use of it for.

Another thing to offer is a time based exclusive use. So give them exclusive use for a period of 6mo-1yr. If they are ok with that, I'd go double the price that getty images is charging for something like this (editorial, non advertising, interior image) which is roughly $1100 for 6 months. Double it for a year and give them an option to increase in increments of 6 months for 50% of the initial 6 month fee. If they want exclusive unlimited forever use of the image, charge 5x the getty image fee.

JMO, that's what I'd do.

 

Thanks! Sent them another email...with more questions. Who knows.....

 

yeah, find out what image size and resolution they need.

Also I found out some info about the company,

Wcities.com, Inc.: Private Company Information - Businessweek

They seem to be legit. They scour services like Flickr on a daily basis looking for images to use.

 

Thanks! The final jpg is 51mb. 14,xxx pixels by 5,6xx pixels.

Don't you think a group like that would be prepared to make an offer based on what they do with the images and what they've paid previously?

 

It seems they didn't really know what they were doing. I got this response:

 

My guess, you may not hear back (although I hope you do!).

They may have been looking for someone to simply be proud to give their work away.

I did it once with a pic I took, gave it to schmap.com for credit. They were not paying though, so to deny would have ended the conversation.

 

You're probably right. Things like that never ever happen to me. lol.

 

Sometimes things come of it.

I got in with that knife company who sent me a gift basket to use one of my photos on their site...which consisted of a collection of knives/scorers to include a $250 Shun. They also hired me a couple years ago to shoot a small web demo for them.

They did contact me to shoot some product shots but in ended up going with someone who specializes in that field. Oh well. They still send me holiday cards signed by the whole office.

Sometimes, good things happen.

 

^That's true, I remember that happening and the knives you got for doing it.