Had an interesting mail yesterday, from a chap who wanted to use one of my circus images for the cover of his new book.
Judging by the content/title of the book, this is niche publishing in all it’s glory, with a professional audience of about 5 people. He didn’t divulge what the print run was expected to be, but stressed the fact that it would not be main stream!
I suppose I should have been weary when he wrote « I notice on your site, that the images are not free of rights » (Meaning yes, you have to pay to use them) but I looked up the appropriate listing and regardless of the print run, most ‘realistic’ working photographers charge between 300€ and 500€ for a paperback.
I replied to his mail proposing 250€, to which I quickly received an almost curt reply « I’ll be very clear about this, but I shall not be using your photograph »
Er…ok – this means that he obviously expected to be able use the image free of charge, or at least, for very little. Sadly, this can’t happen – it ‘dilutes’ the impact and directly harms the working professional – if everyone were to do this, the pros would never get paid at all. I ‘worked’ to produce the image, so I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think that you will have to pay to use it.
Showing me your pissed doesn’t affect me at all – but rather hi-lights the continuing « It’s on Internet, so it must be free » attitude prevalent at the moment. I wonder if he would consider giving away his book? I mean, after all, if everything is supposed to be free….