A picture: worth 1000 words, but how many dollars?

[rivka]

I got e-mail from someone about one of my old, old pictures on Flickr.

I'm working on a baby accessory line and would like to use
your photo "airplane baby" ... on my hang tag and possibly
on my website. May I have permission to do this? If you
agree, I'd like to get a release form from you. Please let
me know.

I've gotten a request like this one before, but that was from someone putting together a nonprofit educational website. If someone wants to use one of my pictures in a commercial venture, I feel that I should ask for some money. But how much is reasonable? It's just a snapshot. (Albeit a cute one!)

Comments

[zeldajean.livejournal.com]

I think joedecker would be a good one to ask on that. I haven't a clue where to start.

[janetmiles.livejournal.com]

*nods* I think pecunium would be another good person to ask.

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

That is a great photo. Makes me think of the old Chessipeke (sp???) Railline log of the sleeping kitten.

As to how much to ask for, sorry, but I dunno.

[timill]

Chessie (and Peake, and Nip and Tuck...)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chessie_(railroad_mascot)

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

Thanks! After reading the wiki, I googled up some Chessie (et al) images. Gotta admit, seeing picture after picture of what looked like a "coma cat" in various situations (like Peake coming back from the war) made me think "Lookit, my cat died and I had her stuffteded!"

[journeywoman.livejournal.com]

Digital photo rights vary based on resolution and various other factors (e.g., professionals will charge for rights based on how, where, and how many times you plan to use the photo). If you go to a site like gettyimages.com and look for royalty-free (no restrictions on usage) images tagged with airplane and baby, you'll get images like this:

http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/72867882/Digital-Vision

For a 500K photo, the cost is $50. 1 MB is $145. And so on, up to $500 for a 50 MB photo.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

I don't know about cost, but that photo looks too detailed for a hangtag, which means she may plan to change it in some way and you'd want to know that.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

You should ask for enough money to satisfy whatever need that money requires. If you want money just because, ask for $10 and you're officially a professional photographer. If you want money because an artist needs to be paid for her art, ask the break-even price that will make you happy whatever they decide. If you don't really want your photograph to be used in that way, ask a price so high that they'll go elsewhere.

For me, just having my photo used professionally would be cool enough.

B