Stock Photography & some questions

6th

Ok I know its probably a dirty phrase around here but being that I'm starting out I have a few questions:

What would be the best place to throw my photos at? iStock, Getty, Corbis etc? I use a few different ones for work (design & advertising company) and think that maybe there's no harm in putting up some of the shots I'm not to precious about.

Also what is the story with taking shots of say, toys, and putting them on a stock site? Is there a problem if I am taking pics of known brands or lines? Say I took pics of matchbox cars or nike runners?

Anyway dont mean to offend and I know you dont get rich on it anyway.

Cheers,

6th

6th

ok then ..... lets leave aside the Stock Photography.

Lets say I take a photo of a bottle of Coca-Cola, what would be by position when it came to selling that photo?

rymus

6th wrote:

Lets say I take a photo of a bottle of Coca-Cola, what would be by position when it came to selling that photo?

I very much doubt any photos with recognisable brand names, designs or logos would be accepted by any stock sites. Have a look at shutterstock and read through their documentation.. It'll give you a clearer idea on the whole process.

Calina

6th wrote:

ok then ..... lets leave aside the Stock Photography.

Lets say I take a photo of a bottle of Coca-Cola, what would be by position when it came to selling that photo?

It depends. For commercial usage, you would definitely need some sort of release from the trademark owner.

6th

Ok as an example, what about the photos depicting the Lego men on here recently?

PaulieC

Shutterstock will accept trademarks and logos but you either have to have a release to sell commercially or you can sell it as editorial stock. The other microstock sites don't accept trademarks without release.

Calina

6th, none of us are IP experts here and we deal with our own areas. However, you need to make a distinction between the types of sales:

1) commercial
2) editorial
3) artistic

For commercial, you need release documentation the brand owners or subjects of the photograph. Lego is a massively recognisable brand, probably in the top five in the world so yeah, you'll need clearance. For editorial I'm not so sure of the position although I think it doesn't require release and for artistic it's a little more liberal.

If you have any doubts about permission, it is better to seek first and be denied rather than take a risk and get shafted afterwards.

6th

Good advice, cheers.