Photo Usage for Digital Creators: What Is It & How Do I Charge For It?
Photo Usage for Digital Creators: What Is It & How Do I Charge For It?
A guide to learning about imaging use for creatives, and the factors you need to know to get paid for your work.
Bloggers, Influencers, Content Creators, & Photographers: listen up because this is important. If you’re sharing your photography online you NEED to educate yourself on photo usage and copyright laws.
Let’s start with the basics. What is photo usage? Photo usage is the way your photo is going to be used by a potential client. When brands reach out and ask if they can use your image in their newsletter, or on their website or social media channels, they are asking for photo usage. Even if you’ve worked together on a campaign in the past, unless your contract included photo usage terms, brands need to get your permission to use your photo. If a brand has used your photo in any way without your knowledge or permission; they are literally breaking the law.
So, what is copyright law? Copyright law is a federal law in the United States that states (among many other things) that the creator of a photograph is the sole owner of that image. The person who takes the photo owns the copyright of that image and no one else can legally use that image in anyway without permission. This blog article is a great resource to learn more.
There is a really interesting podcast about copyright law as it pertains to self-portraiture (the person who presses the shutter is the copyright owner, so the person who is taking the self portrait of themselves is the legal owner of the image) in the case of a wildlife photographer and a monkey who took his own self portrait, and therefore was the owner of the image. Listen to it here.
Photo usage is an umbrella term for A TON of different ways your image could potentially be used, so it’s important to find out exactly how your clients are planning to use your image so that you can charge accordingly. Are they planning to put up a billboard in Times Square? Are they using it in an ad? What kind of ad? For how long? If it’s going on their website, is it featured full screen on their home page? Or is it a small thumbnail image in their site’s footer? Knowing how big your clients brand is, is important as well. Are you working with Vogue? Or a local start-up with two employees?
Photo usage is worth a lot of money, but how much you can charge depends on all these different factors and it’s important to remember this when discussing usage with your clients. For example: If Coca-Cola reaches out to you and asks to use your image in their Super Bowl ad, you can easily charge a million dollars. The larger and more prominent your image is being used, the more you can charge for that usage. Same goes for the brand itself: the bigger the brand that’s requesting usage, the more you can charge.
IMPORTANT: Photo usage has NOTHING to do with how many followers you have on social media. It is based on your photography alone. If a brand is using your images without your permission, they are breaking the law. Screenshot everything, and reach out to a lawyer. You’re entitled to revenue that the brand has illegally stolen from you by using your image.
Because so many factors apply when calculating a rate for image use, there is no set rate that everyone in the world uses. Many people were using the Getty image calculator which, for reasons unknown, has recently been removed. If you are looking for another industry standard pricing calculator, many professional photographers use the desktop program fotoQuote which retails for $150.00. There are industry standard rates that you can start with and base your rates off of as well. For advertising use for a well-known (sold in stores near you) company for 1 year, the standard is $1,000 per image. For organic social media use for 1 year: $200/image. Bear in mind that in the end, the price is up to you. If you are an inexperienced or new photographer shooting on your phone, you may consider a lower price point than an experienced photographer using a professional camera and lens.
Keep in mind that many social media contracts will include imaging usage in the fine print. It’s very important to read through your entire contract, and ask for any language that states the brand will own whatever your create for them, royalty-free, forever to be removed or changed. I usually talk about image usage up front when I send over my rates, or while negotiating. Likewise if you are signing up to third party agencies like Tribe, or Takumi, make sure to check the terms of use when you apply. Unfortunately, many of these agencies include royalty free usage that you will not be able to negotiate or change.
Educating yourself on photography language and law is so important for digital creators! It’s essential to know what you’re talking about, and feel confident in your rates during professional conversations with potential clients. It’s equally as important to know this information as a brand! Make sure your information is coming from a reputable source when you’re researching, and don’t be afraid to educate your clients. Many people are simply unaware of copyright law, especially in the age of social media.
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