Quote:
Originally Posted by TAGfan
Well if you do end up giving out digitals, and I have, its basically the customer buying the copyright - I wash my hands of those images. I guess I am confused how that 'kills the field'. The alternative is that your clients would have to come back to you in order to get reprints made if they wanted - and how often does that happen?
Maybe you are just referring to giving out the digitals for free?
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I would never, ever, sell the copyrights to an image, let alone an entire shoot. Clients of mine may get a CD of images (usually more commercial: families go for prints) but even then, their use is limited and ownership is ultimately mine.
I dont see photography as a product-based business where the end result is prints or files, but as a service-based business, where the client pays for time and expertise.
By retaining copyright I reserve the right to do what I want with the images, though in certain circumstances even that is limited. At the base of it, however, I still retain the copyright for the work; not the client.