Would you sign a photo copyright release?

waloshin said:

I have found out most place delete grad photos after a certain time and some families want extra copies years later.

If you were a photographer or a professional studio and a customer came to you with a copyright release to have someone copy and reprint your photos or enlarge them would you sign it or deny?

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Depends on how much you got paid originally. You'd probably get more responses in the Photography forum.

There are many price structures/models that photographers and commercial studios employ and more often than not, they'll offer a chance for the client to purchase the copyright of an image outright (usually for an additional fee) outside of the standard print package fee.

It used to be that commercial studios would simply store the physical negatives for years -nay decades, building a business from their archive and betting that they could make a return against the cost of storing them. It was convenient for clients too, given how things tend to get lost in a move or natural disaster or what have you. Unfortunately a lot of those studios have gone belly up and the would-be-clients out of luck.

Personally I wouldn't charge that much as the only people who are really going to be interested in those photos are the sitters and their families...unless of course they are hedge fund scions. Then you maybe want to charge a little more. The guy in the link below was able to build a new wing to his home by selling the rights of a portrait session he made with his sitter...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-...er-cub-coleman-are-among-few-you-ll-find.html

waloshin said:

I have found out most place delete grad photos after a certain time and some families want extra copies years later.

If you were a photographer or a professional studio and a customer came to you with a copyright release to have someone copy and reprint your photos or enlarge them would you sign it or deny?

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No

Id expect the customer to pay me for the extra prints.

No lab should be re-printing your photos without your permission.

waloshin said:

I have found out most place delete grad photos after a certain time and some families want extra copies years later.

If you were a photographer or a professional studio and a customer came to you with a copyright release to have someone copy and reprint your photos or enlarge them would you sign it or deny?

Click to expand...

If it's for wall mounted prints, do the printing yourself. Getty Images won't let anyone else print from their collection of negatives and digitals.

sim667 said:

No

Id expect the customer to pay me for the extra prints.

No lab should be re-printing your photos without your permission.

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Yes, but for an extra charge, you could grant them permission to print as many as they want since they would then own the copyright. I'm sure there is a reasonable amount that you could both agree on. Forgive the double entendre but outside of Genghis Khan, how many reproductions are they going to really need?

sarge said:

Yes, but for an extra charge, you could grant them permission to print as many as they want since they would then own the copyright. I'm sure there is a reasonable amount that you could both agree on. Forgive the double entendre but outside of Genghis Khan, how many reproductions are they going to really need?

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Why would you do that? How can you guarantee that the quality of printing is going to be an acceptable level that you feel it representative of your work?

The best advertising is word of mouth

Because headshots and family portraits aren't at all representative of my work....
Your point is well taken though and you're right, I would never make such allowances for my personal interpretation of the craft. In the case of a HS graduation portrait however, should something happen to either me or my archive, at least the person or persons that care most about the image will have it. No one cares more about the integrity of art more than I do, but as far as commercial work goes my concern has to end at the waters edge.