Business Software for Photographers

ASMP put together this handy list of pricing guides and back-office software for photographers.

Work for Hire Contracts

I was asked recently to assemble a post about Work for Hire contracts to give artists and students the opportunity to read about this process and educate themselves before entering into one with a client. Generally it's considered a bad idea for an artist to sign a Work for Hire contract because it strips the artist of all rights and claim of ownership. There are exceptions of course, and ultimately it's up to you whether you sign it or decline it, but you should know what you're getting into. Let's start with a good 'ol Wikipedia definition of a Work for Hire Contract. Now let's take a look at an essay by Attorney Lloyd J. Jassin titled, Working with Freelancers: The Work for Hire Doctrine. In it, he represents the client hiring the freelance artist. Now for the artists point of view: Photographers should check out this primer on Work for Hire contacts by ASMP (The American Society of Media Photographers), while Illustrators and Designers can review this article, What does "Work for Hire" mean for designers? by AIGA, the professional association for design.

Copyright Tools

Copyright Navigator: A Digital Annotated Concept Map of the Fundamentals of U.S. Copyright Law by Professor Lionel S. Sobel is a pretty awesome interactive flowchart that lays out the fundamentals of copyright law, and how it pertains to things like enforcement and fair use.

Ready to register those works of art? The United States Copyright Office has the step by step instructions and required forms for copyright registration of various flavors, including visual arts, literary works, performance art etc..

Creative Commons has a new "Termination of Transfer" tool based on the US Copyright Act that assists artists in reclaiming copyrights given away long ago. 35 years, to be exact. via boingboing.

Here's an interesting article in The Wall Street Journal about some new tools that can scan the web for violation of copyright. Attributor and Copyscape are the key players right now.

UPDATES 5/2/08

Attributor just raised 12 million and has the support of Condé Nast.

Finding and Working with a Rep

I'm often asked by artists and students about how to find and work with an Artist Representative. I have assembled this post in an attempt to link to some relevant articles on the subject, and I will update it as I find new info on the web.

UPDATE 6/10/08:

I found this list of Visual Artist Representatives in our website referral list. It has a number of agencies geared towards the professional commercial artist.

Industry sites like AltPick, WorkBook, and Directory of Illustration have listings of artist reps available. The Alternative Pick has great interviews with Reps from around the world that shed some light onto how they think. Store 44 Reps was interviewed in 2005. Do you research, and see what is a good fit for you.

Selina Oppenheim Maitreya wrote a great piece, titled How to Find and Work with a Rep. I couldn't find the original article on her site, so link goes to cached version at Internet Archive. This article was last updated in 2000, so keep that in mind where prices are quoted. Selina is a portfolio consultant, and her book How to Succeed in Commercial Photography: Insights from a Leading Consultant is available on Amazon.

Joshua Kaufman, Lawyer and member of the Art Copyright Coalition, wrote an article that dismisses the analogy of an artist-rep relationship being like a marriage, and raises another point that can never be said enough: "Any artist who does not look after their careers in a business like manner, will eventually run into a great deal of difficulty and more often than not, fail as a professional artist."

For photographers, look to your local APA or ASMP Chapter. Required reading for photographers is the ASMP Professional Business Practices in Photography, which contains a sample Artist-Agent contract and additional information on working with a Rep.

For illustrators, Art Talk over at the iSpot has a couple of good threads on finding and working with a Rep. For further reading, pick up a copy of the Graphic Artist's Guild Pricing and Ethical Guidelines, which has a sample Rep contract, as well as more info on the subject.

Serious artists should also look to Tad Crawford, who has a cornucopia of books on legal forms for commercial and fine artists.

There is another facet to finding and working with a rep that I should mention, which is Portfolio Consultation. You can expect to pay a rep or portfolio consultant anywhere from 200 to 5,000+ dollars for this service, with varying degrees of intensity. Not every artist needs a full-service rep, sometimes a portfolio and/or marketing plan tweak can make all the difference. In this relationship, the rep/consultant is hired by the artist for a brief time to review the portfolio, recommend changes, new strategies, discuss market opportunities, etc. etc. 1 Port Authority, Shannon Associates, Chatterbox, and Bobbie Wendt come to mind. There are many other similar services, so do your research and make sure you're getting what you want. Store 44 Reps offers this service with an emphasis on portfolio creation and revision.

New Website for AIGA

UPDATED 6/07

AIGA National updated the Design and Business Ethics Manual. This is a great resource for walking clients through the various avenues of the creative process. The manual is separated into 8 PDFs covering photography, copyright, print design and environmental responsibility, and other topics.

The Arizona chapter of AIGA, the professional association for design, just went live with a re-vamped website. New features include a calendar with local and national events, news, discussion boards, and a job bank.

AIGA, the professional association for design, is committed to furthering excellence in design as a broadly-defined discipline, strategic tool for business and cultural force. AIGA is the place design professionals turn to first to exchange ideas and information, participate in critical analysis and research and advance education and ethical practice.

Know Your Rights as a Photographer

Interesting article in the USA Today by Andrew Kantor about your rights as a photographer We've previously emailed A link to his blog which includes the downloadable PDF "Legal Rights of Photographers".

Cost of Doing Business Calculator for Photographers

The National Press Photographers Association has a Cost of Doing Business Calculator for photographers. Enter your details and learn how much your overhead is for a day of shooting. Handy for budgeting in the new year.