My band has an amerature photographer who likes to come to our shows and photograph us and we are trying to work out a licensing fee for us selling prints of her photos. We were going to start with prices of $5 for unsigned and $15 for signed photos and give her half of the profit ($4 and $14).
I really don’t want to take advantage of her, I’m asking because I’m not sure what a fair rate is.
We also don’t pay her to be at our shows other than free tickets and we do use her images our marketing with credit. What is a fair rate for something like that? (Not that we can necessarily pay it right now we have no money) Would it be standard to be paid per show or per photo we want to use? Unlimited use exclusive / non exclusive license?
Concerts are events and event photography is usually per event with some understanding that some specific number of shots or specific moments will be delivered. But you are working with an amateur so it’s maybe more casual. You haven’t said what agreement you have about fair use but I assume there is an understanding about that. Copyright is an unresolved issue in your arrangement based on what you have given us. As a musician you might appreciate those complexities, it is the same for artists with a camera. This should be settled to everyone’s satisfaction or you risk access to those images for an intended use. Event photography pricing varies widely so perhaps call around in your area to find out what pros are charging, not the big fish in your town but some of the minor players. If you’re amateur has any professional aspirations, they need to wrestle with both copyright and fee structuring as well. As a businesses, both parties need to tighten up for best results.