If some of you aren't aware, a friend took some pics of my car. He's not a professional but he takes really good pics and has some nice camera gear from what I can tell. His name is Graham. He called another friend of his named Andrew, and he took pics of the car too. I didn't know at first that Andrew is a professional and has a business on the side. Andrew just came out because he wanted to shoot the car too. No biggie, whatever.
So they both shoot the car, and we all agree to meet up a couple days later to do another shoot. Andrew gives me his card so I get the impression now that he's a professional...not sure what tipped me off LOL. A couple days later I met up with Graham first and we did some still shots and rolling shots. Right after that I met up with Andrew and we did some shots in a cemetery. Graham had insinuated before that Andrew might charge a little too much for my taste, but I figured if it was too much I just wouldn't buy any. I asked Andrew how much it would be for pics and he said to let him know what I wanted and we'd work out a price.
Andrew posted a few of the pics on my Facebook page and soon after they were floating around the internet. I posted the pics he and Graham gave me on the FD pics thread on 7club, and someone on there told me I should submit the pics to be put in the FD calendar that someone puts together every year. I put the pics in the thread and then someone asked me if I'd asked Andrew for permission. First of all, I didn't mention in that thread what their names were, I just said others took the pics. And second, if he saw the names in another thread, why wouldn't he ask if I asked for Graham's permission? That led me to believe he and Andrew are probably at least acquaintances.
Anyway, I asked Andrew for permission and he said the pics he gave me were just for me and him. I'm not sure if he meant that they weren't even supposed to get out on the internet or what, but he put them on my page where all my friends could see, so I'm not sure how that could have been controlled at that point. As far as I'm concerned they're free game at that point. He said if I wanted to put one in a calendar that I'd have to buy it, and he said normally to get full rights I'd have to pay for the whole shoot. I asked him how much, and he said a full shoot was 5 pics (in 1920 hi-res) and $1000
. Yeah. He then said that because it was a unique situation because I didn't ask him to shoot and he did it because he wanted to, and because I didn't know how all this worked beforehand, that he'd give me any pics I wanted, also 1920 hi-res, for $100 each. Still . Now, what pisses me off about all this is that he's using my pics to promote his business on Facebook. So why am I not receiving compensation for my object being used to promote his page, yet I have to buy a pic to use in a calendar? I just don't see how this is fair.
I understand his point of view and charging to pay for equipment and his labor in editing the pics, etc. But I'M the one that spent thousands of dollars fixing up my car. HE was the one that wanted to shoot the car. I'm not asking for more rights, I'm just asking for equal rights. The way I see it, this is somewhat of a partnership. He's taking the pics and processing them, and I own what he took pics of. I don't mind if he sells pics of the car to make money, and I don't mind buying pics. But the part about not having rights when it's my car in the pics, it kinda pisses me off, and doubly so since he's using it to promote his business while at the same time telling me I can't use a single pic for a calendar without buying it. Like chickenwafer told me on the phone, if a car company uses a pic of your car sporting their wheels, they're most likely paying you for it.
On the flip side, Graham didn't ask me for anything and he's stoked at the thought of one of his pics being used in a calendar. I'm more inclined to pay him for pics just for the simple fact that he's not asking for it and he's just doing it for enjoyment, over someone being shady.
Also, as it turns out, Andrew is dating a girl I went to school and church with when I was in High School. I knew her boyfriend drove a Lotus and was a photographer, but I didn't know it was him until she mentioned it when I posted one of the pics on Facebook.
Anyway, am I off the mark on this or what?
