 Julie N. Bazinet |
Freelance Photography I'm about to sign a freelance photographer contract with a national news agency. Looking to our seasoned experts out there to help me understand any pitfalls, do's/dont's and/or contract specs that I should pay close attention to. Help!
|
|
|
|
||
|
TERESA J. SWEET |
Not quite sure about this, but CONGRATS!!! That's a great accomplishment! Good luck!
|
|
|
|
||
- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
What's the news agency?
|
|
|
|
||
|
Mark Feldstein |
Sooooooooooooooooooooooo, lemme guess: Is this one of those outfits that has you out taking photos, without any particular assignment in mind, has you send in the film and they own the rights? Or, lemme ask aside from Greg's question, who's the agency, how much, for what, when, where and the frequency of publishing along with its paid circulation, what format, who owns the image rights, does it cost YOU anything, did you have to submit porfolios for reviews or go through an agent? Do you get a company credit card for expenses? Do they have references? How many photographers on the masthead? How long has the most senior shooter been there and what's their average age? Inquiring / prying minds want to know. ;>) And if you don't know the answers to these, among other relevant questions, then I think you need to find out. Take it light.
|
|
|
|
||
|
Julie N. Bazinet |
Hmm... I don't think so Mark but that's part of why I floated the question out here. Teresa.. thanks for your words of encouragement. Greg the agency is CNW. Mark, you've raised some really good questions. There is an hourly rate, (min. 2 hours). Mileage and other out of pocket expenses are covered. Photographer is dispatched when an assignment comes up (chooses to accept or not). The client owns the rights. Perhaps we could talk off line about some of the other questions you've suggested. Sounds like you have quite a bit of experience in the field.
|
|
|
|
||
|
Mark Feldstein |
Yeah, you could say after almost 30 years as a full-time photojournalist, I have some experience in the field (and out of it..LOL !! ) No, I wouldn't surrender my copyrights unless they REALLY paid for them. This sounds suspiciously like a work for hire deal and notwithstanding how badly you want to be published, in my view, and most of us who are members at ASMP.org or National Press Phographers Ass'n. , this ain't a good way to go. :<( Sorry Julie. I haven't heard of CNW, maybe Greg has. He's quite experienced as well. My personal e-mail is Mark-Feldstein@sbcglobal.net
|
|
|
|
||
|
- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
Can you say what CNW stands for? Even CBS stands for something, though the real name is never used.
|
|
|
|
||
|
Julie N. Bazinet |
Mark, thanks for the email address. There's one on it's way to you. Greg, it stands for Canada News Wire.
|
|
|
|
||
|
- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
I can only speculate. I've never heard of it because it's a Canadian thing. But I do want to say off top that by looking at the photos in the porfolios and archives, and comparing them to what some of the photographers list as what they've covered, they didn't seem to match. It looks like it was practically all press conferences and news releases. A guy in a suit behind a podium or a few suits doing the posed hand shake. No spot news or events. For example, one person listed covering NBA and NHL games, but didn't a one picture included in his porfolio. Just the podium shots. So I'm thinking you'll be contracted for a flat rate, for assignments that only happen in the area that you live. And off hand I'm not expecting any travel compensations, but they may. That would need to be made clear before signing anything. As far as rights, I'm thinking that at least it may be rights are retained by the agency, until a certain time after publishing, or a certain time after the assignment is completed. But if they mainly provided wire news, then they may retain all rights since the date for a picture to be published can be so wide open. A self contained newspaper will have a time set for when they want to run something. But an agency that seeks to provide photos/stories for other publications will encounter one paper running something right away, and they may try to sell to another publication that is interested, but only enough to have it run a few days after the event. So check out assignment pay rates(flat rate for all, or do some pay more than others), travel expenses, using photos for you own porfolio off the agency's own site, does turning down an assignment put you at the bottom of the call list.
|
|
|
|
||
|
Julie N. Bazinet |
Never thought to compare portfolios vs bio. I suspected that assignments would be local, not glamorous or pay a whole lot. I mean... it is what it is which is work for hire (you and Mark have helped me see that). The biggest issue I have is around copyrights and potential lost income. Guess that's a trade-off I need to assess versus the learning experience and networking opportunites. After looking more closely at the contract looks like I retain copyrights but grant exclusive worldwide rights to the client and CNW -- I can however use the material to promote my work ie> portfolio. No time stamp is indicated so, I'll follow-up on that one and do a bit more legwork on pay rates. Thanks so much for the advice and the time you invested to help me out.
|
|
|
|
||
|
- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
Well, you retain copyrights and give exclusive world rights really is a typical trade off for newspaper stuff. You'll always be known to have taken the picture, but CNW will be able run, and re-run photos. And wire to other publications.
|
|
|
|
||
|
Mark Feldstein |
But only if your contract with them provides for byline credit every time the photo is run. M
|
|
|
|
||
|
- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
Who took that picture? I don't know, some lady did.
|
|
|
|
||
|
This old forum is now archived. Use improved Forum here
Report this Thread |
||