Darnay wrote:
Matt,
the circumstances of the shot were at a Summer Ball where I was the official photographer. The ladies bought copies on the night at the Ball then somehow an agent sees the shot and makes me an offer for the copyright. The really anoying part is that he also told the ladies what he had offered me and they want 50% to sign model releases.
I might be wrong but I feel I am being duped here somewhere, At least one of the ladies in the shot must know the agent well enough to have shown him the shot in the first place. I am tempted to say the shots not for sale, but would that be like shooting myself in the foot....Show more →
Wow, large, potential conflict of interest here if one of the women does know the agent, agent advised woman of the fee they are willing to pay you, and then the women want 50% of your fee.
My advice, walk away from this deal. You are being held up for the model releases. Consider this an object lesson on business, and from now on, get model releases at time of taking the image. There are lots of sample releases out there for you to use/customize for your needs.
The photographer, I believe, doesn't need a release for use in the UK - it's definitely different from the US in that regard. However, "all" is a nasty dangerous term in a contract setting, particularly if there is a possibility it might be used somewhere other than the UK. If getting releases seems to be difficult or the pricing tainted, then perhaps you should offer the image with no rights clearances and suggest that you can attempt put them in contact with the models to negotiate their own releases.
Your best bet would be to contact an attorney who has experience in this. You need a contract that does three things: #1) Spells out in usual and customary legal language exactly what is to be delivered to who from whom, and for how much. #2) Insures you get paid. #3) Limits your ability to be sued. (Those things should be in your contract anyway.)
Also contact a UK stock house or Getty, and see what the going rate is on what their intended use is.
So, you have an image that had already generated income. You expected that it had done its job. Now you have the chance for a bonus and you're worried about that?
What income can this image generate for you if you don't sell it? Looks like the "models" are OK for some extra pay, and unless you have a better way to make money from this image I would probably join them.
I would, however, ensure that you retain the right to use the image and any variations of it they use for your own self promotion.
