Photographers and Videographers
If you’re a photographer or videographer, you may be involved in shooting, filming, licensing, product promotion, merchandising, commissions, and/or gallery management. Legal rights apply to the creation, production, distribution, sale, and marketing of your photographs and videos. Photographers and videographers need solid contracts with their clients and protection of their work.
What Can a Lawyer do For You?
As lawyers specializing in the issues photographers and videographers face every day, we help our clients with contracts, protecting their work, name, and rights, and navigating the photography and videography world. This includes drafting, negotiating, and reviewing all sorts of contracts like services agreements, work for hire agreements, commission agreements, model releases, location/property releases, and licensing agreements. It includes protecting copyrights of photographs and videos, and trademark protection of names and logos. It means maximizing our clients’ rights and revenue. And it means providing guidance on the ins and outs of a successful photography or videography business. Essentially, we are here to handle the business and legal stuff so you can do great work! Please reach out to us at Creative Law Network if you have any questions. We’re here to help!
Legal Checklist:
Photographers and videographers can capture a moment in time and create a unique and stunning visual narrative. However, a lot more goes into capturing those moments than merely point and shoot. There are so many details and behind-the-scenes items that make for a successful photography or videography career. Making sure these things are in order and done correctly can set you apart and put you on a path to success. So we’ve put together this basic checklist for photographers and videographers. This list isn’t exhaustive or in any particular order, and not every item is relevant to every person. It can be a guide to keep you on your toes as you build a photography or videography career.
Keeping detailed lists of your photographs and videos, as well as back-ups, can be useful if clients ask for copies and as a record of your work. Knowing when a work was created can help if anyone infringes your rights.
Registering the copyrights in your photos and videos is a really important step! (Look here for more about copyrights.) Registration of photographs can often be done in groups (up to 750 photographs at one time) if they meet certain guidelines, and planning ahead for this can save a lot of time and money!
If you’re working with other creators or crew, figure out who owns what! Copyright law says that if someone contributes to your work, they are a co-owner unless they say otherwise in writing. A Work for Hire Agreement is one way to retain full ownership in the copyright of your work.
If you are using an online service to distribute your work, don’t forget to thoroughly review the terms of use and license agreements on the website! Understanding what the website offers, and what it may take from you, is really important when it comes to the control of your work and business.
If you’re shooting in buildings or locations not owned by you, location releases and/or permits are important to ensure you have the rights to be present in that location and capture that location in photographs or on film.
Any time you are photographing or filming people, it is important to have proper releases and documentation from everyone involved. This can protect you from liability and secure the ownership of your work. This is especially important if you are filming or photographing minors, as you’ll need a parent or guardian to sign as well.
If you are using music in a video, it is important to have all the necessary rights to include and sync that music. Music rights can be very complex but don’t need to be a dealbreaker!
Having protection for your equipment in an agreement with a client can avoid a lot of cost and expense. If something happens on a shoot that isn’t your fault, you don’t want to be stuck footing the bill for repairing or replacing your equipment!
Insurance can be a valuable tool for photographers and videographers. Consider what type of insurance is needed for your projects, such as travel, errors and omissions, commercial, and equipment. Also, consider who will be responsible for obtaining this insurance, you or your client.
If you operate under a business or trade name, that name is a trademark and should be protected. Federal trademark registration is the best protection for your business/trade name and/or logo. (Look here for more about trademarks.)
Forming a company (like a limited liability company (LLC) or corporation) is a useful tool to run your business and protect you from personal liability. (Look here for more about business formation.)
CONTRACTS! While contracts may not be fun, they lay out the necessary terms for any deal. Getting solid contracts in place is crucial and can help avoid legal problems in the future. A good agreement for your services is absolutely crucial. It covers how you’re paid, ownership, deliverables, insurance, liability, cancellation policy, and so much more. Service agreements can be flexible since no two projects or clients are exactly the same. Creative Law Network can draft the agreement to suit how you do business, not the other way around!
If you need any help with anything listed above, please reach out to us at Creative Law Network!