Contacted through Flickr for use of Photo, what would you do?

blue5

I've been contacted through Flickr, by an american company operating in Ireland wishing to use a photo I have online for their website.

"This brings me to why I am contacting you – we have been researching images on Flickr and various other platforms and as part of this research, we came across your image

As part of the sign up process we invite people to up load a photo of themselves or to choose from a bank of images we are providing.

I would like to see if you might be willing to give us permission to use your image on our site as part of the bank of images?"

What would you do in this case? Should I ask for payment for use of the photo or ?

PopeBuckfastXVI

Heck yes ask for payment! Why not, you obviously have something of value which they will be using to make money?

magicbastarder

what's the nature of their business?
sounds like a bunch of horse**** to me.
rather than not responding, i'd respond and make it abundantly clear that you are denying them permission.

djd80

magicbastarder wrote: »

what's the nature of their business?
sounds like a bunch of horse**** to me.
rather than not responding, i'd respond and make it abundantly clear that you are denying them permission.

Whats the point in an attitude like that?

Respond and ask them for some more information and find out what payment/reward you may get? If it's just an image sitting in your Flickr account that you are never going to do a whole lot with then where is the harm?

PCPhoto

so they want you to sign up and give them permission to use your image on their site ???

what are they offering ???

Who are they ??

My understanding of the situation is they were browsing flickr/other platforms for images and just because we know its illegal we thought we would ask for permission first.....if you see your image anywhere else then get straight on to a solicitor.

you could ask them who exactly they represent, which websites the image is for and if they are willing to pay for usage of the image..... Flickr have an agreement with Getty images, so you could tell them if you sign up to Getty they can get usage of the image for X amount, but you will let them have it for Y amount.

magicbastarder

djd80 wrote: »

Whats the point in an attitude like that?

because (without seeing the rest of the message) it looks like nothing more than a trawl for free images.
if they were serious, they would have provided more detail about what the image would be used for and outlined remuneration.

blue5

They gave me the name of the business and it's a well known company. I even googled the guy who sent me the email and his LinkedIn profile comes up saying who he works for and what he does. It does appear to be all good in fairness.

They're not looking for me to sign up, just to use my image for those who have signed up and look for profile images for their account.

I was just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience and what they had done. I'm happy to let them use the photo but I don't want to go down the road of photographers loosing out on their livelihood as there's always someone willing to do work for free or next to nothing. There should be a standard for this.

The Getty Images idea sounds like a good road to go down...

EyeBlinks

blue5 wrote: »

They gave me the name of the business and it's a well known company.

Charge

magicbastarder

blue5 wrote: »

I'm happy to let them use the photo

why should they make money off the image and you not?

charge them.

Bandana boy

Its up to yourself
I would probably let them use it for free or a nominal fee like $1-As I would get more value from the knowledge my Photo was out there and being appreciated.

blue5

Thanks for the input! Much appreciated. I'm delighted they like my image so much they'd use it on their site. I think I should charge a fee for use though as they would be paying for similar on any random image site, it's just that their particular site is based on Ireland and there may not be that many images on the chosen subject available.

Tactical

Charge.

Base price on usage as would any stock company. i.e. printed, web published, territory usage etc... If they want the image the should pay industry standard rates. If you want to find out what a typical usage comes to then simply ask them about the media it is to be published and territories it is to be published in e.g. USA based and world wide web usage. Then simply go to a stock image company and choose an image and get a quotation based on the same usage as the company who have contacted you. Simple

Definately charge because otherwise you're undermining and devaluing the work of photographers everywhere.

magicbastarder

Bandana boy wrote: »

Its up to yourself
I would probably let them use it for free or a nominal fee like $1-As I would get more value from the knowledge my Photo was out there and being appreciated.

they may not even use the image. the number of people i know who were approached by schmap a few years ago for permission to use photos was of a level that i suspect they would not be able to use all images if the majority of people consented. they may just be building up a warchest of images they have been given consent to use.

PCPhoto

Bandana boy wrote: »

Its up to yourself
I would probably let them use it for free or a nominal fee like $1-As I would get more value from the knowledge my Photo was out there and being appreciated.

if you are willing to let them use your images for free can I take your camera for free ? and use it to make money.

I'll give you credit for letting me use your camera - if someone asks me about the pics I take.

No offence intended towards you Bandana Boy - but if you are allowing people use your images for free - where do you stop, let them use your camera for free, your computer, your car, your bed, your house, your girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/hubby ?

if someone is asking for to use an image which you have taken ...they are using it for a purpose - to make themselves money, so why shouldn't they pay for the use of an image which could potentially contribute to them making thousands.

blue5

So I've had a look at Stock Photos website and they have a page where they show you a price per download and compare two types of License for the photo :

http://www.shutterstock.com/license_comparison.mhtml?hsb=1

The Licenses guidelines appear to be a good guide line for what the image can & can't be used for. I'm not trying to get ahead of myself, I'm just watching my back.

DaireQuinlan

PCPhoto wrote: »

if you are willing to let them use your images for free can I take your camera for free ? and use it to make money.

I'll give you credit for letting me use your camera - if someone asks me about the pics I take.

No offence intended towards you Bandana Boy - but if you are allowing people use your images for free - where do you stop, let them use your camera for free, your computer, your car, your bed, your house, your girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/hubby ?

That's a pretty ridiculous argument. If you borrow the OP's camera you're depriving him of the use of that camera, and there's probably potential for breakage and damage and what not, in the case of allowing someone a license to use your image for free there are no similar concerns. You're just rabble rousing

if someone is asking for to use an image which you have taken ...they are using it for a purpose - to make themselves money, so why shouldn't they pay for the use of an image which could potentially contribute to them making thousands.

That's the cogent point. I'm a firm believer in the philosophy espoused in the following picture ...

http://cdn.techpp.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/workforfree.jpg

Ultimately though it's the OP's call. I always hate this bleating of how amateurs are ruining it for everyone else by 'devaluing the industry' or whatever. As I've said before, if your business model depends on other completely independent people not doing stuff for free, and they start doing stuff for free just cos they feel like it, it's time to change your business model. Adapt. The software industry (as one example) has done it and flourished.

pullandbang

I was asked too. Had a look at what they're about and liked it so I gave them the shot for free.
On the other hand, I was approached by a German Calendar company also looking for some shots for free. They are charging €25 for their calendar so I told them they could buy my shots and they did. Sent them off to them on Monday.

Bandana boy

PCPhoto wrote: »

if you are willing to let them use your images for free can I take your camera for free ? and use it to make money.

I'll give you credit for letting me use your camera - if someone asks me about the pics I take.

No offence intended towards you Bandana Boy - but if you are allowing people use your images for free - where do you stop, let them use your camera for free, your computer, your car, your bed, your house, your girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/hubby ?

if someone is asking for to use an image which you have taken ...they are using it for a purpose - to make themselves money, so why shouldn't they pay for the use of an image which could potentially contribute to them making thousands.

Way to make a leap their buddy

The incident of a(in my case extremely) amateur photographer giving away one pic for free -or a nominal fee- because the sense of achievement in a piece of their work being used publicly being worth more than a few Euro is surely very understandable.

The way I see it you have three outcomes

You charge a fee and the company pays you -result your work is out there and you have some "free" cash

You charge a fee and the company declines to use your work -Damn

You let them use it -your work is out there

If the value of your work being out there is worth more than a sum of money then option three is a no brainer.

Personally I think equating letting somebody use a Photo I took for pleasure with "giving somebody a go on Mrs Bandana" is quite moronic

The swingers forum is --> that way

PCPhoto

ok ...firstly I feel like I need to clarify ...my post was clearly just an exaggeration.

Bandana Boy you were saying you would give them the image for free and I joked at ...well if you are giving stuff for free then can I use your camera, or your house etc etc.

look its all well and good giving stuff away for free but at the end of the day it will not benefit you, if someone wants an image you took surely they are willing to pay for it, the meere (is that spelled right ?) fact that they approached the person indicates that they are not going to attempt to steal the image, best response to give is that the image is available if you are willing to pay (and then let the haggling commence)

Bandana Boy - your last post mentioned 3 scenarios, the best being that yu get free money, the next charging a fee and being rejected (thats where your negotiating skills come into play - to get a fair fee which earns you money and the buyer gets the pic they wanted).... if they are not willing to pay, no problem, someone out there will.

or your option 3 - let them use it and your work is out there ....how does that benefit the photographer, they are not going to link you back and even if they do - its very unlikely to be enough to make a sale in the future, in most cases they wont even put your name with the pic, they use the image and the only person who knows it is you and your family/friends, speaking from experience, if someone gets something for free from you they dont care about you - they have what they wanted.

Ballyman

Bandana boy wrote: »

I'm afraid this is just nonsense.

I know you won't believe me and lots of others that have the same dilemma as you won't believe me and will convince themselves that something great will come of giving away pics for free and my work will be out there and I will get more work because of it etc. but there is zero and thats absolutely ZERO chance of any of that happening I'm afraid.

And the happy glow you get seeing your pic being used somewhere goes pretty quickly and then the realisation will kick in that you have been taken for a mug. Trust me, the glow is much much better and lasts longer when you've been paid for it!! If the truth be known the gloss goes off that pretty quickly as well I've never seen lots of the pictures I have sold being used!

At the end of the day it's your decision what you want to do but my advice would be to listen to most of the people giving you advice here as they have seen and been through all of this before themselves.

magicbastarder

plus, the 'your work is out there' - i.e. it's in the hands of a company who have already shown that they really don't get the whole 'paying for someone else's work' vibe.
i'd be much more comfortable giving work to a company who have demonstrated a healthy respect for authors rights and whatnot, than a company who haven't.

pullandbang

pullandbang wrote: »

I was asked too. Had a look at what they're about and liked it so I gave them the shot for free.
On the other hand, I was approached by a German Calendar company also looking for some shots for free. They are charging €25 for their calendar so I told them they could buy my shots and they did. Sent them off to them on Monday.

Remember this post?

The calendar is now published and they used three shots of mine
Not bad getting 25% of the whole calendar!

Linky!

Mountainsandh

Woah there ! I have a 3 year old with nothing but hot air balloons and helicopters on his mind, who is going to be daydreaming at your shots very soon so That'll be just perfect for his new room.
Well done !

pixbyjohn

pullandbang wrote: »

Remember this post?

The calendar is now published and they used three shots of mine
Not bad getting 25% of the whole calendar!

Linky!

Denis, whats the legal position of you selling the photo with the Maxwell House logo on it and it being used commercially to make profit by the calendar company, I am just curious ? Maybe you don't know the answer to that.

pullandbang

pixbyjohn wrote: »

Denis, whats the legal position of you selling the photo with the Maxwell House logo on it and it being used commercially to make profit by the calendar company, I am just curious ? Maybe you don't know the answer to that.

No idea but I'll keep you up to date from my prison cell

IamBlip

I was contacted some time ago through Flickr about one of my photos. It was a German architectural magazine that was doing a piece on the comparisons between structures and automobiles.

They said outright that they could not pay for the image but would give full credits etc. I asked if the mag was for sale and if so then surely the could afford to pay for the "high res original" that they wanted.

In the end they never came back to me, but I was happy I asked for payment.