What would you do if someone asked you to give them a picture you had taken, to be published in a Surfing Mag,... but just wants you send them that picture without any questioned asked? Is that smart, or should I really not care......?
It depends. . . . . . upon your ego, and your need for $$. Just remember that even when posting photos here, we're effectively giving up rights to residual payments. Often such terms are buried in the "Terms of Service" agreement when you sign up. Case in point. . . Artist Robert Crumb created the "Keep On Truckin'" guy which saw wide circulation in a variety of media outlets (all before the internet) and when he later sued to claim his residual rights to profit from his intellectual property, the judge disagreed saying, "It's seen such wide circulation, and since you didn't immediately pursue formal copyright registration on the image, you have no claim to that right now." Crumb was so ticked off by the ruling that he left America and still lives in France, Zap Comix and all. His publisher Dennis Kitchen (Kitchen Sink Publications) told me the case left Crumb very bitter for obvious reasons. In the interim, he immediately copyrighted Mr. Natural and his other now famous characters (http://www.crumbproducts.com/) including a Giclee print of Tommy the Toilet for only $75. But this is now the generation of "Aqua Teen," so maybe my point is completely lost, or maybe not. Now, with the internet and MP3 download sites still alive and well after Napster got burned, your intellectual property and creative products are more susceptible than ever to downright theft. If you want to see what others think of your work- then the internet accommodates it very nicely, but I've given away far more prints than I've ever sold. I guess I'm just a sucker for cheap praise. And lest any of us forget- Surfers, and most likely spongers as well, are notoriously cheap. Aren't we?
I would think that Surfing Mag would pay for the photo. If that's the case, I would coordinate with the individual so that you can submit the photo directly to Surfing Mag and have them pay you directly. Then both parties win. If Surfing Mag is not willing to pay you but is willing to run the photo still...if it was me I would submit it anyway just because I'd love to see one of my shots printed and distributed is such a large publication. Maybe I'm a sucker. But I would try the money route first.
"we're effectively giving up rights to residual payments." I do not agree with that statement. I do not understand the "residual payments" thing. Copyright is copyright. Computerized date stamps and user upload logs tend to show ownership very well. Not to mention, if you want to try and make something out of a cut down 640/480 or less, be my guest. Of course website traffic is key to revenue stream, which belongs to the owner of the website. Although,.. much traffic to surf websites can be shown to be a cause of picture posts. So yes,.. maybe we should all have our own websites. But that does tend to be very time intensive....... Thanks for the feedback everyone. As far as the picture I spoke of is concerned, I thought it was strange that they never asked for the name of the surfer in the picture or who to give credit for the picture to. I agree with you Joel. I do not feel as if the money is that big of a deal, when I know how many good/better Pictures/Photogs are out and about. It really should not be this hard to make something happen, but no one seems to want to state even basic specifics on the matter. If they seem to not want to know the name of the surfer or the person who took the picture, how cool is that?
That's a tough call, but I would try to get some money for it first. Cameras and editing software is not cheap and it requires quite a bit of time to take and edit photos. You would think that editorial staff for the popular mags would be understanding and try to look out for you. Too bad that's rarely the case as they get thousands of pictures to choose from. If they aren't willing to pay you for the picture I would still try and have it published for free. I agree with Joel. I'd love to see the photo! Watermark away!
