John Harrington's blog about the Fed Ex image
NPPA Independent Photographers Toolkit
Advertising Photographers of America Business Manual
Common Cents Column On The Cost of Doing Business
NPPA Online Discussion Group Instructions
Portions of this column were originally written for the June 2008 edition of News Photographer Magazine.
Mark Loundy is a media producer and consultant based in San Jose, California. Full bio.
The opinions in this article are those of the author alone and do not necessarily represent the official views of the National Press Photographers Association.
By Mark Loundy
"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit."
— Harry S Truman
A poster on Craigslist was looking for workers to perform a number of tasks around his house. By way of payment he offered: "Of course there will be no pay involved. In return for your services you will get FULL CREDIT on my website, AND you can add all of this work to your PORTFOLIO! If you ask me, this is an absolutely awesome deal!"
Of course, the photographer was making the point that folks like auto mechanics and house painters insist upon fair payment for their work. If somebody made such an offer to a local tradesperson, they would simply hang up the phone.
I trust the original poster managed to dislodge his tongue from his cheek.
According to a posting on the Editorial Photographers forum, an unnamed Seattle city magazine submitted a new contract to their contributors that grabbed rights for the parent company's 35 other titles across the country. Nine of the Seattle pub's contributing photographers signed a letter stating that they could not agree to the new contract and offered to discuss a more palatable contract. The magazine responded with assignment cancellations and by telling one of the nine that they "will not work with them again."
Oh yeah, the "Good" part: Several of the remaining photographers sent letters to the magazine, in support of the shooter who was retaliated against, stating that they will no longer contribute. The magazine has since reverted to its previous contract.
Applebee's International for offering $25 to use a sports image as part of one of their restaurant's decor.
New York Photo Festival/New York Photo Awards: Rights grab.
Condé Nast's Wired.com for its contract that requires 90 days exclusivity after first publication without any limit on how long they can take to publish. This means they can lock-up your images forever. There's more, but that's Ugly enough.
The photographer in the Washington DC area advertising for an assistant and apologizing for not being able to pay because he was newly in business.
Please let me know of any particularly good, bad or ugly dealings that you have had with clients recently. I will use the client's name, but I won't use your name if you don't want me to. Anonymous submissions will not be considered. Please include contact information for yourself and for the client.
Leftovers