Exclusive Rights to my photos?

Hello,

I am not sure what to direction to take or where to start...so I am starting here!

A home town resident has recently asked for a number of photos to be taken at various events and locations (probably approximately 50 photos). He would like to use these photos in propaganda to promote a musical event hosted in our home town. He has asked me to quote 1. exclusive rights to the photos and/or 2. unlimited use of these photos.

I am not sure how to price this??? Can anyone offer any advice on this as I have never been asked.

Thank you in advance!
Jennifer

One question that springs to my mind about you is whether you are already a professional or an amateur? If you are a pro, I can understand that someone would approach you with this offer. With what they are asking as deliverables i would think that it is justifiable to raise your normal rate above what you would normally charge for a print package. Against that, there is a certain amount of goodwill that could be built up from this depending on who is putting on the event and for what purpose. Deciding factor for me would be whether it is a charitable/community organization putting it on for a fundraiser, or a profitable venture.

If you are an amateur, are there professionals in the area? If so, wouldn't the organizers have contacted them first? Would the issue have been the fees, availability, tight deadline, or the rights? As far as your pricing is concerned it would probably serve you well to find out the pricing structure of pros in your area just the same as you would if you were developing a business plan prior to launching a business. Without the experience, or business history, you won't be likely to command the same fees but you also wouldn't want to severely undercut either as there are expenses when running a business and lots of time in the background spent doing everything else required to run a business. To shorten a long story, if you are going to start down the road to being a professional, it would be advisable to start with looking at the local marketplace and the business expenses so that it could be sustainable as a startup.

Of course, if it is a fundraiser for charity or the like, and you don't want to start a business to avoid the hassles of paperwork and taxes there is nothing wrong with donating your time and photos.

Just to follow up with some more practical pricing info. When I cover events as a hired gun, the rates range from $50-100/hour depending on equipment used, expected number of shots and other criteria. All photos remain with whoever did the hiring and I have no rights to them, though some will allow me to use a limited number strictly for portfolio purposes if I ask.

On stock sites the usage that you are being approached about can pull in anywhere from several hundred to thousands of dollars per shot. The differences being which site it is, the specific details of intended usage, and the credentials of the photographer in a few cases.

If you decide to go ahead with this, you will need to determine which approach to pricing is best for you. It could also be in your interest to provide pricing for the usages they have requested and also limited usage for promotion of the specific event at a lower rate of course. Without knowing anything about the person who contacted you there is no way to determine if they are not fully aware of what they have specified for rights, or if they are trying to take advantage of your lack of knowledge as two rather extreme possibilities.