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Usage Fees


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Hi,

I have a question about Usage Fees.

I am in early discussions with a large International company here in North America and they want a full buy-out (including RAW files) of 5 images for full web usage, in perpetuity for $3000.

 

Personally I think this is extremely low. Could I have anyone's thoughts on this and how to approach it?

Many thanks.

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I'm just an amateur, @ian_thuillier, so I have no experience whatsoever in this area. But it's an interesting question that I (as an amateur) haven't come across before. Pro photographers can give you much better feedback.

 

FWIW there a couple of ways (sub-questions) of approaching your question that crossed my mind:

- how fair/attractive is $3000, purely based on your direct costs (taking the photos) and indirect (overhead) costs?

- how fair/attractive is $3000 based on how your photos may be used (level of exposure, high/low profile, potential monetary gain) by your client?

- what are your guessstimated 'opportunity costs' if you accept a full buy-out? How likely is that you could license/sell these photos to other clients too and at what price?

- How difficult would it be to just take (slightly different) new photos?

 

I suspect that it's important to find out more about why your prospective client prefers a" full buy-out" rather than an exclusive licence for x years. Most photos in advertising or on a website have a "sell by date" of a year (or two) at the most. Then photos and other content need to be refreshed otherwise they become stale. It could be that the client wants to associate your photos with their 'brand' and want - through a full buy-out - to prevent you selling the selling the photos to other companies who might usie them for a different brand/purpose at some later date.

 

Out of interest, I browsed through a few articles/discussions on the web on this topic. From what I read, it seems to be a trend and the jury's still out:

- DIYphotography

- DPreview

- Aphotoeditor

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To the OP: see my response a few threads down, seems similar. How to approach the negotiation? When it comes to business negotiation I am an amateur. The two things I know is you have to stand tough on your counter quote no matter how nerve wracking it may be. And two any legal battle, media buy, advertising costs that a corporation is dealing with $3,000 is nothing in their overall media budget. However it may be the most an assistant marketing person is allowed to spend without any oversight? They quote this price then they tack on the fact that their legal department requires the buyout. Stay tough and hopefully it gets to a point where someone else easily approves your counter offer.

 

To the thought: "How difficult would it be to just take (slightly different) new photos?" I disagree with this being a factor. I had a institute ask for one of my images, I gave a reasonable price they refused sent out a person and copied the image. However they didn't hire a real photographer and even though they had my composition they made it look cheap and unprofessional. Looking at the image on their site screams of amateur hour and ruins any amount of "quality" branding the institute may have purchased in the past. Big company's have marketing people who are professionals with years of both education and experience. Shooting their branding in the foot with cheap copies could mean being downsize next review, its not their wallet it however could be their promotion if their project is seen as meh.

 

Of course this is all hypothetical internet mumbo jumbo.

Edited by 2d

--------------

My Architectual Photography:

Architectural-Cinematographer.com

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