Lee McLaughlin's 'Blind Leading the Blind' Street Photograph selected for purchase.

[leepix]

Please tell me your feelings concerning selling the rights to my BLIND LEADING THE BLIND

photo. I sell printsof this currently and have also sold short term usage to various clients. I

am considering using this on a post card that I will sell. But the company that wants to

purchase this, wants ALL rights. Is this a good or bad decision to sell? Do others sell ALL

rights? Thanks for any comments. -- Lee McLaughlin<div></div>

[scott_davis5]

Never sell ALL rights unless you're being paid commensurately. Are they offering you a million dollars? That's what Bruce Weber got paid for his Calvin Klein ads that made him famous, but don't have his name or copyright anywhere on them. Granted, most of us aren't Bruce Weber, but still... think about what you'd be giving up, potentially. If this greeting card company wants to buy the rights to your image, there probably are others out there as well who would.

 

If they wanted exclusive greeting-card rights, for a limited time, with potential extension to be negotiated later, sure, go for it. Or if they wanted all rights for use on a specified list of promotional items (t-shirts, mugs, etc), I'd consider it, but only if the money was right. Once you sign over those rights, you get no royalty checks from additional sales. They own everything. So, like I said, unless the money you get from their one check is more than you'll ever conceivably make from a lifetime of sales if you manage it yourself, and/or the benefit from their sale of your image will bring you enough new business to pay for it, (think of that Bruce Weber example again), then DON'T DO IT. Run as far away from this as you possibly can.

[maury_cohen]

I would copyright the image while you're at it.

If it's not copyrighted and they like it enough to copy the concept you may not have recourse if it's closely copied.

[qtluong]

Do you mean transfering the copyright, or selling unlimited, non-exclusive use ? The former is very rarely done and in general not a good idea unless paid very well. Pricing the latter is very tricky, since some unlimited uses are more unlimited than others. In any price table, the most expensive uses are easily in the five figures. If you sell unlimited rights, in theory they could use the image that way. However, in practice, they are very unlikely to do so, and also unlikely to accept such a price, so eventually it comes down to what compensation is acceptable *to you*. <a href = "http://www.terragalleria.com/">Terra Galleria Stock photography</a>

[leepix]

Thanks for the input. I am holding back from selling ALL rights. I think you are correct in

this. Thanks Again.

Cheers to all.