Venue Contract with Photographer

[dinha_cooper]

<p>Hi amazing eyes,<br>

Has some of you guys had the pleasure out there to sign a contract with a venue to be their Photographer of recommendation? Is the venue allowed to get a cut of your work? Can your submission on media like blogs, your webpage etc be canceled by the venue if you do not have such a contract in place?<br>

Where can I get an example of these kind of contracts?</p>

<p>Thank you so much for your help.</p>

 

[katrin_d.]

<p>I have venues recommend me - however, they don't get a cut. They recommend me because they love having me there. Personally, I would never sign on to be a venue's photographer because it's just too much of an employer/employee relationship and "Pay to Play" just rubs me the wrong way, won't do it. Copyright always stays with me - wouldn't consider a scenario in which it would not (unless the price was more than right). Clients have full usage rights and I'm more than happy to supply fellow vendors with images (watermarked) from events we worked on together.</p>

<p> </p>

[Marcus Ian]

<p>The bottom line here is that it totally <em>depends</em>... While<em> I</em> would never agree to the terms you've outlined, if you agree to them (for the sake of being their 'Photographer of Recommendation'), then you've granted them the right, contractually, to restrict your behavior.... and you have made yourself subject to whatever penalty is included in the contract. </p>

<p>Without a contract, they can not (at least here in the US) restrict your posting of your pictures to social media, unless there is some sort of privacy, or security restriction (can't imagine either applying to a wedding venue, but I'm sure somewhere there has to be one... somewhere) which is legally enforceable. </p>

<p>By default, you own the copyright to your images, though, which means you can do with them as you please (unless a contract you've agreed to states otherwise). Any restriction on your ability to take/publish images by a specific private location that is publicly accessible must be clearly stated to be legally enforceable. (ie. there must be clear signage posted that forbids photography for example)</p>

<p>Of course this varies by country. Where are you located?</p>

[john_h.1]

<blockquote>

<p>Is the venue allowed to get a cut of your work?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>If that is part of a valid contract with the venue, yes. The venue can impress potential clients by offering referrals to trustworthy vendors which may also reduce some time and effort for the clients to find one. Given how many talented photographers there are to chose from, some venues may only recommend photographers that agree to share a cut. Those photographerd, in turn, get more business.</p>

<blockquote>

<p><br />Can your submission on media like blogs, your webpage etc be canceled by the venue if you do not have such a contract in place?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Can you rephrase? This is somewhat ambiguous and confusing. What do you mean by canceled?<br /><br /><br /><br /></p>

[john_h.1]

<blockquote>

<p>"Any restriction on your ability to take/publish images by a specific private location that is publicly accessible must be clearly stated to be legally enforceable. (ie. there must be clear signage posted that forbids photography for example)"</p>

</blockquote>

<p> <br />That's partially inaccurate. A private property owner can forbid photography (shooting) by visitors at any time while they are on the property although doing so may can breach a contract a contract allowed photography to occur there. Just like any other activity. It would be wildly insane business decision for a wedding venue to ban photography whether announced in advance or not but, technically, property owners can do that. Signage, itself, is not required. The only enforcement remedy for the property owner, however, will usually be to revoke the visitors license to be there and eject them from the premises. So notification that photography is banned generally means that engaging in photography is a likely cause for the owner to decide to kick you out. A photographer can still use images that they shot on the premises unless there was a contract to the contrary they had with the owner.<br /><br />This is just academic discussion. Wedding venues don't go kicking out photographers if they want to stay in business.</p>

[Marcus Ian]

<p>A private owner <em>actively forbiding</em> photography seems to be a pretty clear statement to me - sorry, thought that obvious enough to not need restating ;) <br>

However, taking photographs after being forbidden to do so in such a context, especially if you<em> </em>then use them, opens you up to a variety of potential civil and even (in some -rare- cases) criminal liability. </p>

<p>Not that you'd likely find a wedding venue that would either complain or forbid you... unless you were taking pictures of something unseemly going on behind the scenes ;)</p>

 

[dinha_cooper]

<p>Thank you so much for all your help. Has anyone ever signed something like this and where could I access these type of contract to get my head around it first?</p>

[michaelmowery]

<p>Go to the venues in your area and inquire. Thats the best advise.</p>