IMPORTANT -- PLEASE READ
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==============================================================================
Greetings -
Your primary issue at stake with regard to publishing a compilation
book of
photography is remaining within the legal boundaries of the federal
copyright
law. According to the United States Copyright Office, all photography
is
federally protected under copyright law immediately upon its creation.
This
means you will have to gain explicit, written permission from the
photographers
for the use of their works in order for your book to be legal. You
can read more about this at the US Copyright Office web site:
http://www.loc.gov/copyright/.
The following resources will give you a start in obtaining some sample
permission contracts, but I would investigate consulting with a
lawyer. Every situation is different, and a lawyer will help you
tailor your legal documents to suit your particular situation.
Contract Resources
==================
About.com
Publishing [publishing contracts]
http://publishing.about.com/cs/contracts/
Electronic Issues in Publishing Contracts by Ivan Hoffman
ivanhoffman.com
http://www.ivanhoffman.com/electronic.html
Sample Contract
Editorial Photo
http://www.editorialphoto.com/contracts/MeredithStock.html
Automated legal processes
Law Depot
http://www.lawdepot.com/
In terms of profit sharing, this will vary depending upon the
publisher, the
scope of your contract, distribution, and related issues. I do not
know if the
following company does photo books, but I know they offer 20-40%
royalty for
authors, and their books are available through places like Amazon,
Barnes and
Noble, and Borders. They also let authors retain all copyright and
distribution rights. See http://www.upublish.com/upb01a.htm.
I investigated getting a book of mine published, and it seemed like a
a daunting task. One publisher I contacted had a list as long as mars
of people ahead of me who were seeking to get published. It always
helps to have connections, where transcripts and samples can be
"walked" directly to people with influence or additional connections.
It is very much this way in the music and film industries. Depending
on how serious you want to get, hiring a manager/agent may help you
get into the bigger publishing houses. This link at Cader Books has a
lot of interesting info on the subject
http://www.caderbooks.com/pubfaq.html.
Additional Links:
=============
Temple University
Contract
http://216.239.51.100/search?q=cache:N6MAVB77qXUC:www.temple.edu/tempress/downloads/Permission_Guidelines.pdf+requesting+permission+publish+photos&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
Vassar College Copyright Guide
Asking for Permission to use Images
http://library.vassar.edu/copyrightweb/imagerequest.html
Getting Permission: How to License and Clear Copyrighted Materials
Online and Off [Book]
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/087337536X/102-7903475-4380943?vi=glance
Search Terms:
===========
"sample contracts" photography
publishing contracts photography
"sample contract" publishing photography |
Request for Answer Clarification by
anandk-ga
on
07 Jan 2003 07:32 PST
Nice work. Looking for a little more information though. Let's say
I'm an author/publisher with a number of photographs from 20 artists.
After obtaining permission to publish these photographs, what sort of
profit structure should I present to each artist (are there any such
guidlines)?
ex. [ (Total Sales - Cost to Publish) / (# of Authors) ]
Also, another issue would be color printing. What exactly does full
color mean? What type of paper should be used?
|
Clarification of Answer by
jbf777-ga
on
07 Jan 2003 10:27 PST
I'll be glad to look into this. Can you tell me, are you looking to
publish this yourself? Or are you looking to contract with a
publisher?
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Request for Answer Clarification by
anandk-ga
on
07 Jan 2003 10:55 PST
I will be publishing this myself (probably through local printing
companies) - unless I can find a POD company that offers "visual arts"
publishing. Thanks for the quick responses.
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Clarification of Answer by
jbf777-ga
on
07 Jan 2003 19:44 PST
Because pricing will vary depending on the style and content of the
photos, I need to know what kind and style-type you'll be using. For
example, fine-art/gallery oriented work will have a different pricing
arrangement than commercial/photojournalist type work.
Full color means just what it sounds like. Your book will be "played
out" using typically 4 inks that, when combined in various ratios,
produce all the colors in the spectrum. These 4 core colors are Cyan,
Magenta, Yellow and Black [CMYK]. Pricing on this varies from printer
to printer, but this will typically be more expensive than Black and
White or 2-color printing. Now-a-days most printers are setup to do
color, so there might not be too much of a gap between full color and
B&W, but you'll have to check with the printer you decide to go with.
Full color will afford you more detail with its ability to capture
more subtleties than B&W. A B&W photo printed in full color may
reveal that it really wasn't true black and white, but instead some
variation of brown or green.
The paper you decide to go with will typically be a very heavy stock,
double-sided glossy paper, which any printer specializing in this work
should have at its disposal.
Thanks for your patience thus far.
jbf777-ga
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Request for Answer Clarification by
anandk-ga
on
07 Jan 2003 20:26 PST
Fine-art type. Great responses.
|
Clarification of Answer by
jbf777-ga
on
07 Jan 2003 23:35 PST
Thanks for the rating! Can you also tell me what category your photos
fall into? E.g. pictures of wildlife, people, events? Thanks.
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Request for Answer Clarification by
anandk-ga
on
08 Jan 2003 05:08 PST
Can't really pinpoint a specific category. The selection ranges from
landscapes and nature shots to portraits.
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Clarification of Answer by
jbf777-ga
on
08 Jan 2003 16:17 PST
The information I've received directly from a photography professor
who has himself had works published before, and a professional
photojournalist is that there generally are no royalties for fine-art
photography work, unless otherwise specified on a case-by-case basis.
A publisher may give the photographers a one-time honorarium of some
sort of between $200-$500, but that's it. Photographers are more
interested in exposure [no pun intended] than in royalty from the
photographs. More famous photographers might have specifics in terms
of their requirements, but this again varies on a case-by-case basis.
Hope this meets your needs. If you need any additional clarification,
please do not hesitate to ask.
Thanks,
jbf777-ga
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