Common Cents Column On The Cost of Doing Business

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Portions of this column were originally written for the June 2014 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.

"If you're playing a poker game and you look around the table and can't tell who the sucker is, it's you."

— Paul Newman

One of the few ways a sports photographer can still make money beyond the typical minimal assignment fee paid by the major media companies is through commercial resales. But even that might be going away via a corporate ploy reminiscent of Three-Card Monte.

Here's the play: The company will tell the photographer that, although the assignment fee is low, they can make real money from their cut (usually 50%) of commercial resales. At the same time, the company is selling "memberships" to corporations (the usual commercial customers) for flat-rate access to all photos. Since commercial use by members is covered under the photographer's assignment fee, the photographer is paid nothing more.

So there is less and less reason to shoot freelance editorial sports photography. The assignment rates have plummeted to near symbolic levels and the promised big bucks from commercial sales are being switched-out for the loser card of corporate memberships.

Even the big guys can be reasonable. A photographer, who got their usual rights-grabbing contract, was able to negotiate terms that he found reasonable with minimal pushback. Don't be afraid to negotiate!

I've pretty-much stopped mentioning photo contests, since most of them are some form of rights grab. But the Weather Channel has national reach and its "It's Amazing Out There" photo contest does not surprise. It's a total rights grab, not just for the winners, but also for all of the entries. Essentially, it's a very low-cost image library to use as they wish.

Legends Football League for seeking photographers to shoot in exchange for use in their own portfolios. Not very professional.

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.