Image licence

Irishphotodesk

Not my area of expertise, so hopefully someone out there might be in a position to point me in the right direction.

100% of my work is editorial images, but I have been contacted and some images are requested for usage in an upcoming documentary , does anyone know what I should be aware of, any potential pitfalls , it's would be effectively giving away copyright to those individual frames for a period of time, do I need permission from the people photographed for the image to be used in a documentary (these frames were never sent out or published) .
From a legal perspective.... Is there a risk of this coming back to bite me?

I have asked for guidance in the photography section too, curious if the different posters have differing opinions.

Victor

"it's would be effectively giving away copyright to those individual frames for a period of time" - the documentary maker will likely want this to be for ever. You need to make them pay for this.

Do the images involve people who trade off their image, e.g. models or pop stars? If so, any permission you have probably doesn't extend to use in a documentary.

Getting proper legal advice would be appropriate. You need to make them pay for this also.

Irishphotodesk

It doesn't involve people that trade off their image, it's a documentary about a court case, and the images would be of people that were due to be witnesses....I think they were all called to give evidence but can't be certain, I did ID them at the time and put files aside.

At the moment the request is for all usage multiple years, I'm happy enough to sell the rights to the individual frames if the fee is decent, I have subsequent frames as the person walked towards me.

I'm more concerned with if the image would be considered commercial rather than editorial and the potential legal issues around it.

80j2lc5y7u6qs9

Do they not pay for their usage rather than buy the images.a man who maKeS documentaries told me he would get footage from companies.it would have a white line through it.he would choose the shots he wanted and they would remove the line for a payment .he was not buying the footage though only paying for the use of it .


PS On phone not home hope this displays OK

Irishphotodesk

Rayne Prehistoric Picnic wrote: »

Do they not pay for their usage rather than buy the images.a man who maKeS documentaries told me he would get footage from companies.it would have a white line through it.he would choose the shots he wanted and they would remove the line for a payment .he was not buying the footage though only paying for the use of it .


PS On phone not home hope this displays OK

They would be paying for usage, but I’m curious about the logistics or possible pitfalls - I’m not sure if the images would be considered commercial in nature and in need of model release forms or similar, if the image is considered editorial, I believe I understand the limitations of usage, but don’t know what the usage would be considered for a documentary.

80j2lc5y7u6qs9

Irishphotodesk wrote: »

They would be paying for usage, but I’m curious about the logistics or possible pitfalls - I’m not sure if the images would be considered commercial in nature and in need of model release forms or similar, if the image is considered editorial, I believe I understand the limitations of usage, but don’t know what the usage would be considered for a documentary.

But didn' t you say they were buying yours. I never heard of that. when you have a photo in the paper they do not actually buy it do they. If you take it as staff they own it. If you freelance you own it and you licence a use of it


Does the documentary maker not know?

Irishphotodesk

Rayne Prehistoric Picnic wrote: »

But didn' t you say they were buying yours. I never heard of that. when you have a photo in the paper they do not actually buy it do they. If you take it as staff they own it. If you freelance you own it and you licence a use of it


Does the documentary maker not know?

I’m just trying to make sure my a$$ is covered, I work freelance, on occasion directly for a newspaper and also work for photographic agencies.

The images taken were never published and were located after I was asked to search my archive for images of these people, I had approximate dates to search from 2014/2015 so physically searched every frame taken during that time.

I’m concerned that because I don’t sell to this market normally, I may not see any potential issues which could cost me more than I sell the images for.

I may be selling myself short but at the moment my asking fee is a little shy of €5k for 3 images.

80j2lc5y7u6qs9

You need to go to a solicitor Don't see how anyone here can give the 100 per cent guarantee you seem to want. I don't know anything about selling images anyway and wad not aware of the practice. I do not work in that area.