Requests for free use of my photos

[bakubo]

From time to time I get emails from people who want to use one of my photos for free. Except for a couple of times (in 2003 and 2000) I have always said no. I find this very annoying because the people asking for free use of the photo are getting paid for their work. I even had an American guy contact me last year saying he represented a charity that was doing work in Ecuador and he asked me to use some of my Ecuador photos for free. He stupidly even gave me the url for their website. It looked pretty good until I clicked around and discovered that it was really an organization that would help foreigners set up a business in Ecuador. Fees started at $5000 and went up.

Anyway, I got another email last night:

My name is xxxxx and I am a designer at Outside magazine. I recently came across your photo of grand tetons and we think it could be a great fit for a project I am working on. Outside, together with Folsom Skis are doing a one time promotional giveaway of a free pair of skis in the next issue of Outside's Winter Buyer's Guide 2010-2011. We are interested in using your photo as the graphic element on the skis. You would get your name on the pair of skis, along with your name on the caption under the photograph of the skis in Buyers Guide. Unfortunately, we have no budget to pay you for this but it would be great exposure since Buyers Guide is on new stands for several months. If you could get back to me as soon as possible I would greatly appreciate it. We have to submit the design by Friday.

Thanks very much and look forward to hearing from you soon.

This is the photo she is interested in:



Larger version:

http://www.bakubo.com/panoramas/grand_tetons_pano.jpg

What do you do?

[David Kilpatrick]

I can understand why they might have no budget for this. I would request an extended subscription to Outside magazine, and a pair of the skis with your photo and name on.

If the magazine and the ski company can not agree to that, they are mean in the extreme.

David

[Greg Beetham]

I don't see why you should give free use too anyone Henry, the photo's in your collection didn't get there for free so why would people expect too get them for free. So yeah I agree, at least a set of Skis 'for free' in exchange.
Greg

[bakubo]

Yes, I will probably reply and ask for something like a set of skis or something. I used to ski a lot and loved it, but it has been a few years. I just gave away my skis, poles, and boots to someone in Vancouver in April because I wasn't using them. With our current lifestyle I really have no use for more albatross-around-my-neck possessions though.

Last year someone from a magazine contacted me and asked to use one of my photos for free. I politely replied and said if he could prove that he was doing his work for the magazine for free also then I would seriously consider his request. He didn't reply.

Another time I got a request and we exchanged a couple of emails. She said that they had no budget for photos, but admitted she was being paid for her work. I suggested that she pay me out of her salary. She decided to pass.

[Dusty]

No budget is doggie-doo! Henry, I work for a small B2B marketing company these days. Since our customers aren't into mass advertising - you don't put commercials on TV for municipal sewage pumps - they do specialty (trade) publications and brochures. Every picture is paid for, there's a line item for either a photographer to shoot the product or for stock photos that fit the bill.

The only free photo we've ever used was one I took because we needed to put a pic of the cap the reps were giving away in the monthly e-newsletter.

If they can't get yours for free, what are they going to do? Yes, they may get another sucker to give up theirs, but since they're an ad agency putting out a catalog, (yes, a buyers guide is really a catalog), they should have photo costs in the budget. Getting skis and a subscription might do it, if you can make use of it, but a few hunderd bucks might be better!

Dusty

[bakubo]

I replied to her and said I don't give my photos away, but that I would consider allowing it to be used for a payment. We'll see if she replies. Probably not. That is usually how it goes in these cases.

I decided not to ask for skis or other merchandise. I really have no interest in it and it would just be a headache for me because I would have to receive it and then store it or try to sell it.

[bakubo]

In about 1998 or 1999 a woman from a charitable organization contacted me and wanted to use a photo for a brochure they were making. I don't recall exactly which photo it was, but I think it was either this girl in Laos or the children in the hilltribe area of northern Thailand. On my website at the time the thumbnails were 75x50 pixels and then when you clicked on the thumbnail there was a 500 pixels on the long side photo. I replied to her and said okay. I carefully prepared a file that was something like 3200 pixels on the long side. A couple of months later she sent me a copy of the brochure. What a horrible disaster. She had clearly used the 75x50 pixel thumbnail to print the brochure. The photo in the brochure was something like 4x3 inches and was so horrendous you could hardly even figure out what it was, but it did have my name prominently printed right below it. She was such stupid dunce. I had spent 3-4 hours to find the negative, rescan it, and then carefully prepare it for her. That included cleaning up dust spots also.

[David Kilpatrick]

Henry, there is one place which is waiting to use your photos and your lifestory, which is the ultimate road trip. While we are now almost unable to pay anything for articles, and the printed magazine may disappear in a year or so, I would certainly pay something (as much as we could justify) for a retrospective of your 'people' photography and an account of your travels.

David

[bakubo]

Henry, there is one place which is waiting to use your photos and your lifestory, which is the ultimate road trip. While we are now almost unable to pay anything for articles, and the printed magazine may disappear in a year or so, I would certainly pay something (as much as we could justify) for a retrospective of your 'people' photography and an account of your travels.

David, I sent you a PM.

[ianmiddy]

Apologies for going OT, but

...the printed magazine may disappear in a year or so

OH NO!!! - is it getting too expensive, or is there just not enough interest ?

I've given up my sub to AP, and won't bother renewing WDC - Uni gets copies of several of the more 'Pro' periodicals - but I always look forward to Photoworld for the quality of both reviews and printed images...the web is no substitute.

Cheers

IDM

[Birma]

Apologies to Henry for also going OT, but just wanted to second Ian's "Oh no!".

[Dr. Harout]

Oh no, from me too.

[David Kilpatrick]

It will only cease in printed form if most printed media stop being produced. Maybe a 'year or two' is not what I meant. But I do see a point in future where printed magazines cease to be of interest generally. iPad or similar electronic devices may become the normal way to read faster than we think possible. One reason I continue to produce magazines is their durabiity, they are filed with the British Library and also with the National Library of Scotland, where everything we have produced in the last three decades is preserved.

That's why it would good to have Henry's photographic travels in print some time!

David

[peterottaway]

I hope Henry that you do make it to print. It is very satisfying to see a decent copy of your work appearing.

On the question of things like the iPad, I think for the more advanced first world countries it is only a question of how much time before such devices do ruin the economics of parts of the print world. I suspect they will knock enough out of top end general market long before they are ubiquitous enough to be a general substitute for what they destroy. However this was all ready happening before the iPad came to market.

For those who can afford them, e-readers and tablet computers are going to be an information advantage and create even more fear and loathing for less than user friendly governments as well. But to maximize the advantages the software creation and distribution systems are going to have to be open source.

[bfitzgerald]

Sorry I don't buy the "we have no budget" angle on this it makes no sense. Yet they have the money to pay for printing and I imagine advertising revenue. Not saying you have to charge top rates but I would refuse to release any image without some kind of payment. I've heard this exposure angle before and it's not convincing at all...this ain't "Time magazine" then I might accept it!

BTW nice image but I would suggest not caving in on this one even a gesture fee would help just on principle alone.