Licensing photographs for bands?

[oneronnalee]

Hey DPS!

So basically, I've been commissioned by a few bands/musicians to take some promotional pictures for them. Now I had some great resources on photo licensing on my laptop, but I don't have access to that right now (or anytime soon) so I had a few questions about this.

First of all let me say that the first band shoot I will be doing is for a small local group, but I want to get into good practice for the future assignments I've got lined up.

But I'm utterly lost!

How would you go about writing a usage license for this type of work? Say I want to give them the right to use my images for non-profit promotional material. I've thought about the fact that they might want to use them on websites/flyers/posters, should I specify this (and if you can think about any other formats a band might want to use images for promo, do chip in) or is saying "non-profit promotional material" enough?

I've also seen some templates where there is a space to "describe" the images which are subject to the agreement, how descriptive do we get here? Is it just the date the photos were taken? How important is this specification? Some more info on this would be great.

I'd like to be credited for my work but I don't know how far to take this. I do not want to watermark the images 'cause I frankly loathe that practice, however discreet it may be, so would you ask for credit in the License Agreement as well? And what ways do you usually ask to be credited?

And lastly, I'm not keen on the templates I've seen 'cause they are written in overly complicated attorney language, and I would rather avoid that.

Also, in case it's relevant, I'm based in the UK.

Any information would be greatly appreciated, whether it's good templates, tips on structure, personal views or experiences. Educate me DPS, I'm counting on you.

Thanks!

Ronna

[nickbedford]

This is what I wrote in my contract / license thingy. I may be missing a few things but hey.

• All photographs are owned (copyrighted) by the photographer and the photographer grants a limited usage license of any photographs provided as stated below.

• Photographs are not to be resold, nor credited under a different name.

• Wherever permissible, credit should be given in third party publications such as in magazines and online articles.

• No modifications of the original images are to be made. An unapproved modification does not reflect the work of the photographer. Images are processed using a calibrated display and software which provides consistent output on screen and in print.

• If modifications need to be made to the content/style of the images, these can be discussed with the photographer directly. This is encouraged to achieve the best result for both the client and the photographer.

• Images may be used in other works, including posters and flyers; however the images (in their capacity within the work) must remain unmodified as stated above.

• Images shown during the shoot are for illustration purposes only and may not reflect the subset provided to the client for perusal. This may be due to subjects blinking, blurry or out of focus shots and also test shots which may not be noticed on the day on the camera's small display.

• (Model / Photo Release) Unless otherwise requested, the photographer may use any final images, as selected by the client, for promotional / portfolio purposes, after notifying the client of their use. If the client wishes any photos to remain unpublished for a certain period, this can be arranged.

Client signatures of all participating band members etc etc. I threw in the clause about the shots shown at the shoot because certain people like to complain about you "not including this or that shot" when they are excluded for a good reason.

I'm not shooting for huge bands or anything (and not that frequently anyway) and this covers the most obvious stuff.

Disclaimer: I ain't no lawyer. Take mine with two grains of salt.

[oneronnalee]

Thanks Nick, that's very helpful!