agreement

Photographers, Beware THIS Type of Instagram Photo Rights Grab

Photographers, beware: if you're ever contacted by a big brand on Instagram or any other social network with a request to "share your photo," make sure you read the fine print of any terms you're shown. If you don't, you could easily be agreeing to give away unlimited usage of your work.

Stock in Trade, or: Why It’s Important to Read Photo Modeling Contracts

As photographers in the United States, we hold the majority of power when it comes to our images. We automatically own the copyright to all photos we take, we are the ones who register our photos with the U.S. Copyright office, and we are the ones who license our images to clients, publications, and even the models in the photos.

That copyright, in addition to the model releases we obtain from our photographic subjects, allows us to have a substantial amount of control over what we can do with those photos. This can sometimes create a moral ambiguity as to how we decide to publish those photos, blurring the lines between what is right and what is ethical.

Taylor Swift’s Concert Photo Contract Changed to Be More Photographer-Friendly

Taylor Swift's concert photography contract recently came under fire for being overreaching and for threatening to destroy photographers' equipment, leading some publications to boycott the contract and obtain photos by other means.

It looks like change has resulted from the controversy: Taylor Swift's concert photo agreement has been revised to address concerns that were raised and to be friendlier toward photographers.

Motley Crüe Licensing Agreement Won’t Even Let Concert Photographers License Their Own Images

A couple of days ago, we received an email from a concerned concert photographer who had apparently earned the right to photograph an upcoming Motely Crüe concert.

The photographer, who preferred not to identify him or herself, shared with us what they claimed to be the Red White & Crüe Inc. photography licensing agreement, bringing our attention to wording that seems to indicate photographers can't even license their own images without the company's express consent.