I seem to become rather popular again lately and a British news agency wants to sell many of my quirky Japan photos in the UK market. They offer a 60%/40% deal, I retain full copyrights and can say no to certain publications. Usually I work on my own, but if somebody makes the negotiating for me, I actually don't mind sharing money of the proceeds.
Just wondering if this is acceptable or shall I try to go for 70/30? They mentioned that they usually take 50/50, but then again claiming this is the art of negotiation.
What do you think? Thanks in advance!
Congratulations on this, Juergen, sounds like a great job. I find the deal to be quite fair, but also feel that if they offered 60/40, citing that they usually do 50/50, you should join in the art of negotiation and return with the statement that you usually do 80/20 but will ask for 70/30 since you admire them so.... see what happens then. :)
I would inquire as to how they police usage, how they set their pricing and exactly where they are distributing the images. You don't want to compete against yourself especially at a lower price. If all seems ok I would suggest that 70/30 would be better but 60/40 is not unfair.
Thanks Seth...and exactly these questions they were unable to answer...too fishy for me. The picture they are after became very, very unique after the quake, because they are impossible to be taken again and not many people went to the same places I went. So they only can become more valuable over time and I am not selling out when the conditions are not fair or cannot be clarified.
First off congrats! it's not always easy to get those contracts offers.
Now just a quick response: Most licensing agencies expect you to submit your photos in a single place - that's what they call exclusivity. The reason being they want to be the only one providing those shots. And for that, the normal rate in the UK (i'm based in London) is 50/50.
If you play the game, they push your stuff to the clients, and you end up making more money. If the agency likes you, they will sale your photos for you. Also, once you have created a working business relationship with your agency, they start telling you what they need, or what they want to get from you, and you can start pushing a specific kind of content for that particular agency.
Example: A photo I took of akon interested my agency, they then requested a gallery of the photos of celebrities I had that was unique. And since I do a lot of editorial work, those photos are used once on a printed magazine and the associated website, and that's it. So it's fairly unique and therefore valuable.
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Ok, here is an update...the agency wanted me to click their 'Terms and Conditions" in their internal system and I actually read the entire thing. Came out they wanted exclusivity and they were unable to answer my question about how they track usage. Needless to say, I asked them to change these conditions and since they are not able to do so and had some rather fishy conditions, I decided not to sign and not to work with them.
Exclusivity demands a premium and if its not paid, I don't give exclusivity.
commented:
June 17, 2011
Juergen Specht
Shakodo Staff
Oh sorry, Jeurgen.... had not seen your update here. Glad you did not fall into the snare, and made the right decision, which I'm sure left you free and available for the job you were supposed to take instead! ;)
commented:
October 26, 2011
Missus
Amateur