Vlog #8 Is photo attribution all it is cracked up to be?
Today we talk about photo attribution. You know, those little words we photographers love to see under our images, “Photo by {insert your name here}” But are attributions worth fighting for, more to the point, are you willing to to swap attribution out for payment? Many people do. I think this is nuts! Are you willing to give up a job if you don’t get attribution? Here is my story and how it relates to these questions, and all in just over 5 minutes (actually if you just count the speaking parts under 5 minutes. 😉 ).
Below are some of the sites that I refer to in the video.
Photo Editor Rob Haggart, the former Director of Photography for Men’s Journal and Outside Magazine, and editor of the “A Photo Editor” Website not only gives his readers a great explanation of contractual terms and usage, he gives them a sample contract to uses and tweak HERE. His stuff is gold!
By coincidence I just attended an event about then rights of photographers, right to take pictures and copyright. One of the speakers was a lawyer specialising in Intellectual Property. He said that, in the UK, there is a moral right of attribution, enforceable in law, but that quite often photographers agree to give this right up, because the client demands it. I completely agree with what you said. If the client demands it and you cannot get the work without giving up your right to attribution it is sensible to do it. Seeing your name next to a good picture is nice for the ego, but does not have a huge benefit in terms of getting more work.
I wonder if that “moral right” extends to advertising shots. I doubt it.
Matt – this is my favourite rant of all time about pay.
Mick
Yeah, that has been around for years. The irony is this YouTube post is probably in violation of the owners copyright 😉