david_depasquale

This matter of rights to wedding photos is very important to know.

I shot a wedding in august of 2003- the pics where beautiful. i had $150 down

from them to get the date, and the rest to be paid when they picked up the

pictures. I waited 4 weeks and they didn't come in. I called 4 times leaving

messages each time before i heard anything from them. this was my third

wedding and i dare say iwasn't prepared as well as i should have been.

There was no contract at all. just verbal agreement for the sum of $429

tax included. As i waited for this payment- i decided i should get something

out of these pics, so i made a wonderful brochure to advertise my abilitys.

That got a responce. The bride and groom wher furious that i used there pics

in an advertisement without their permission. Their parents called me up and

told me they wanted $80 off the price they hadn't paid yet to compensate them

for the "modelling" they had done on the brochure. after some research, i had

my lawyer right up a "hold harmless agreement" with the $80 off the price and

faxed it out to them. that was in december. Since then i have heard nothing

from them and have been collecting info as fast as i can in case i have to

defend my position. That much said - inow charge $650 for 4hours and have

a clause in the contract that states i reserve the right to use the photos. Last

week i had a couple come in saying they didn't see the clause about

displaying their pics and wanted that taken out! (this is after they paid and

signed) the guys jaw was twitching as he told me that if i was going to display

the pics of them, i could keep the deposit and he would go elsewhere. I told

him, if they didn't want ther pics displayed all they had to do was write in on

paper and sign it and give it too me. What a pain!!!! Anyway- that is what i

have experienced so far. Any info on the what i should or could do as far as

this usage of wedding photos goes would be greatly appreciated. thanks-

David

Thank you to all who responded to my querie.

This is a great community of photographers/artists- even though we don't all

agree all the time!

Thanks again for the help.

David

I was wondering, how does one get his/her picture on the Top rated photos

page after, say 10 -13 ratings have been given for a picture. I have several

that fit this category and would love to see them on the top rated page, which i

visit often. Any help would be appriciated.

David A. DePasquale

i can be reached here or at positiveimage@verizon.net

thank you