Advice on licensing photos

Here's the situation:

My boss at my day job also owns a small shop in town. He asked me to shoot some new jewelry items for use in his own advertisements, etc. No problem, I shot them as a favor to him.

Now, the owner of the actual jewelry brand that I photographed saw my images and wants to use them in her own shop and at trade shows. My question is, what is a good ballpark price to charge per photo? What are pretty standard licensing terms?

Does anyone have a link to a sample contract for photo licensing?

If the jewelry is very custom (artistic), you may want to give her a break, as she holds the copyright on her art, and could possibly get legally angry at you for giving rights to your boss that you don't have.

How many photos total? Might she/you be interested in a trade?

Purely as I read it/understand it, if there is an issue surrounding your bosses use of said images of the items then that is for him to take up with the artist...............b​ut why would she complain as afterall they are promoting the sales of her products in your boss' shop.

In regard to Sean's interpretation........​.....I would have thought she sees great skill in the images you have produced and if she had commissioned such photography she would have had to pay for it! The fact that you did the 'job' for your boss as a favour is neither here nor there, her desire/request to use the images for her own shop and promotions is a whole new ballpark. Her holding the copyright in her creative works is IMO irrelevant here you are being asked to supply a service nothing more & nothing less.

As for what to charge.............. hope others with the experience of supplying such specialised photographic service will chime in with their advice soon

seanlockephotography wrote in post #17124865
If the jewelry is very custom (artistic), you may want to give her a break, as she holds the copyright on her art, and could possibly get legally angry at you for giving rights to your boss that you don't have.

Sorry but it is perfectly legal to photograph an item for use in the sale of that item. No infringement no foul. The OP owns the images and is free to license them to the jeweller (or not - OP's choice).

Box Brownie wrote in post #17124915
Her holding the copyright in her creative works is IMO irrelevant here you are being asked to supply a service nothing more & nothing less.

It is relevant. In instances where something can be considered artistic, it derives more protection. For example: http://www.inquisitr.c​om …-nth-degree-of-stupidity/ or http://petapixel.com …rapher-paying-settlement/

My point was, you don't want to say $1000 an image (or whatever) and she says "That's ridiculous, it's my jewelry - you should be paying me" or something. That's all. Maybe the OP could work out a deal to give her some rights to all the images at a good price, and she can let her customers/sellers use them as well.

seanlockephotography wrote in post #17124931
It is relevant. In instances where something can be considered artistic, it derives more protection. For example: http://www.inquisitr.c​om …-nth-degree-of-stupidity/ or http://petapixel.com …rapher-paying-settlement/

My point was, you don't want to say $1000 an image (or whatever) and she says "That's ridiculous, it's my jewelry - you should be paying me" or something. That's all. Maybe the OP could work out a deal to give her some rights to all the images at a good price, and she can let her customers/sellers use them as well.

Hmmm! a quick read of the posted links infer that others are profiting from the originating designers work and that of course is wrong to profit in a manner not agreed with the original designer (think derivative works!) but the OP is not profiting.............​.he is being asked to provide a commercial service ~ is he not???

Dan Marchant wrote in post #17124919
Sorry but it is perfectly legal to photograph an item for use in the sale of that item. No infringement no foul. The OP owns the images and is free to license them to the jeweller (or not - OP's choice).

You're probably right if it came to literally just using the images to portray items for sale. Like "here's the chair I'm selling on eBay". But if the boss used a jewelry image as a background to imply the beautiful and elegant jewelry his store sells, I don't know - it might be seen as more promotional.

Thanks for the responses guys. Let me clear up a little confusion.

The jewelry maker is a small outfit, but does not create "custom" or "one-off" pieces. She creates different styles of similarly made (not exact) pieces of jewelry. My boss carries some of her jewelry lines in his store, and wanted some images of the jewelry to be used in ads.

The last time he placed an order for more pieces, he showed her the ads that he created with my jewelry. She was impressed with the images and asked him if she could use them in her store, etc. He then told her that he would pass along her contact info so that I could get in touch with her about licensing.

That's where I stand right now. I have no idea what to charge, or what terms to provide. I'm leaning towards "not too expensive" since she is a smaller brand, not like Tiffany & Co.

steve126a wrote in post #17124980
Thanks for the responses guys. Let me clear up a little confusion.

The jewelry maker is a small outfit, but does not create "custom" or "one-off" pieces. She creates different styles of similarly made (not exact) pieces of jewelry. My boss carries some of her jewelry lines in his store, and wanted some images of the jewelry to be used in ads.

The last time he placed an order for more pieces, he showed her the ads that he created with my jewelry. She was impressed with the images and asked him if she could use them in her store, etc. He then told her that he would pass along her contact info so that I could get in touch with her about licensing.

That's where I stand right now. I have no idea what to charge, or what terms to provide. I'm leaning towards "not too expensive" since she is a smaller brand, not like Tiffany & Co.

go to Gettyimages.com and find a similar photo and price it out on their website.

How many photos are you talking about here? Based on what I am reading here, the jewel who makes the jewelry runs a pretty small operation and probably doesn't have a lot of money to spend on photography. You obviously have a telent that is appreciate by your boss and the jeweler, and perhaps this is an opportunity for you to gain some additional recognition for commercial photography, notably jewelry. Since you went into this without the expectation of making any money, why not offer the photos to the jeweler for $500... for this time. If she like what you are producing she is likely to use you again in the future, but you want the expectation that future photography may be charged at a higher rate.

Jim

Figure up how much time it took you to shoot and retouch the photos and see if there is a per/hour figure you can live with. If you did it all in 5 hours, and only want your time paid for, then go there. If you want to include other costs (camera, computer, other equipment, etc) then add it. Or may go the angle of feeling her out for a paying gig going forward in the future. Ideas to think about.