Business Week Photographer Agreement

Posted on 6/3/2000 by Jim Pickerell | Printable Version | Comments (0)

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BUSINESS WEEK PHOTOGRAPHER AGREEMENT




June 3, 2000





Businenss Week has presented the details of their new working arrangements with

photographers to many of the photographers who do regular assignments for the

magazine. This agreement is a great improvement over Business Week's policies of

a year ago. It is likely to set new industry standards which many publications

will be forced to copy in order to compete.

BUSINESS WEEK ASSIGNMENT LETTER

Dear Photographer:

This letter agreement between you and the Business Week Information Group ("BW"), a

division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. ("MHC") shall govern all of the following

materials (collectively referred to as the "Work" in this letter):

    (a) all images created in connection with future original assignments (or "photo

    shoots") you undertake in order to create

    new photo images for BW during the agreement term; and

    (b) stock photos used during the term of the agreement, including images you previously

    created on assignment for BW that reside in the BW photo library as of the date of this

    letter.

This agreement begins as of the date of this letter and will continue through June 11,

2004.

1. You retain the copyright in the Work. All use of the Work by BW and its licensees

will be limited to media that are either in the context of, branded by, or otherwise

associated with BW. For the fees described in the attached fee schedule, you grant BW

the non-exclusive (except for the 90 day "embargo period"" described in paragraph 2),

worldwide right to reproduce, distribute and display the Work in all media, whether now

known or later developed. This grant of rights includes, but is not limited to, the

right to store and distribute the Work in print or electronic form in BW articles,

including on the Web, in foreign language editions (whether published by BW or its

licensees), to use the Work as it appeared in editorial context for advertising and

promotion, to reproduce the Work in reprints and the right to grant these rights to

others, such as our joint venture "partners". These rights are collectively referred

to as the "Rights Package" in the Fee Schedule.

2. With respect to original assignments undertaken during the term of this Agreement,

these rights shall be exclusive to BW until 90 days after BW first publishes any part

of the Work. During this "embargo period," you agree not to reproduce, distribute or

display the Work, nor authorize anyone else to reproduce, distribute or display the

Work without BW's prior approval (except that you may reproduce, distribute or display

the Work for your own personal and private use during this period).

3. You represent and warrant that the Work, in the form that it is submitted to BW, is

original (except as described in the next sentence) and that the Work will not violate

or infringe any copyright, trademark, patent, statutory, common law, contractual,

privacy or proprietary rights of others, or contain anything libelous or obscene. Note

that if you include others' copyrighted materials in the Work (such as a photograph of

someone else's painting or a montage of other photographers' photos), you must get the

copyright owners' permission for BW to use their material to the same extent as you are

permitting BW to use your Work.

4. You will advise BW of any restrictions requested or imposed by persons appearing in

the Work.

5. The fee schedule is attached. Payment will be made within 60 days after receipt of

invoice. BW will use all reasonable efforts to include a credit line to the Work's

owner.

6 - You consent to any cropping, alteration or other modification to reproductions of

the Work that BW, in its editorial discretion, may deem appropriate as well as the

right to determine the placement, manner and context in which the Work may be used.

You waive any rights, including "moral rights", you may have to object to these changes

under the copyright and other laws, conventions and treaties of the United States and

foreign countries.

7. This agreement and the attached fee schedule shall be in effect through June 11,

2004. The grant of rights and your representations and warranties shall continue after

termination of this agreement with respect to all of the Work covered by this Agreement

subject to the terms of the fee schedule.

8. You agree that BW shall be liable to you for physical loss or damage to the Work

only if the loss or damage was caused by BW's gross negligence.

9. Since you will be doing this work as an independent contractor, no deductions for

Federal or state income tax, Social Security, or employee benefits will be made from

your payment.

10. This agreement is governed by New York law and constitutes the entire understanding

between you and MHC related to the Work and supersedes all prior agreements between you

and MHC, including any oral or written agreements. No purchase order, invoice or other

writing inconsistent with terms of this agreement shall affect or vary the terms of

this agreement. This agreement may be modified only by a written amendment executed by

both of us.

11. I am enclosing two copies of this letter. If the above terms are agreeable to you,

please sign both copies and return one to me. If a company owns the copyright in the

Work or a company acts as agent for the copyright owner, an authorized company

representative should sign this agreement indicating the company's agreement with this

letter.

Sincerely Yours

(signed) Larry Lippman

 

________________________________ _______________

Signature of photographer Date

________________________________ _______________

Authorized signature of photographer's Date

employer, agent or other corporate owner

of the Work. (if applicable as described above)

________________________________ _______________

Print name of corporate employee, Date

agent or owner of the Work

BUSINESS WEEK PHOTOGRAPHIC RATE CARD

ORIGINGAL ASSIGNMENTS:

Fees for original assignments commissioned during the term of the agreement that are

published or scheduled for publication during the term of the agreement:

With respect to the first publication of one or more images you shall be paid the

greater of either: (i) the Assignment fee (Day Rate); or (ii) the total applicable

Print or Electronic Space Rate for all images used in that first publication. (That

is, if multiple images from a particular assignment are used in the first publication

-- either in print or online -- you get the larger of the Date Rate or the total Space

Rate for all images used in that first publication.)

If later on during the term of the agreement, we publish or schedule for publication

another image from the original assignment not used in the first publication, it will

be paid for at the applicable Print or Electronic Space Rages the time it is used.

The fees described below cover the entire Rights Package in the context of a particular

article in perpetuity.

If we publish or schedule to publish one of these previously published images again

during the term of the agreement in a different article* in and English language print

edition of a BW publication, BW will pay an additional fifty percent (50%) of the

applicable Print Space Rate described above. This 50% fee will cover the entire Rights

Package for that different article in perpetuity.

(*The fact that additional functionality is added to an article in which an images is

first used for purposes of electronic publication, or that the article is translated,

edited or otherwise modified, does not constitute a different article for purposes of

this fee schedule.)

Use of any of these images after the term of the agreement (whether previously

published during the 4 year term or not) in yet another different article will be for

by the then prevailing fee schedule.

Assignments (Day Rates)   

June 12, 2000 through June 11, 2001

  

$850   

     

June 12, 2001 through June 11, 2002

  

$900   

     

June 12, 2002 through June 11, 2003

  

$950   

     

June 12, 2003 through June 11, 2004   

$1,000   

Cover Assignments (Day Rates)   

June 12, 2000 through June 11, 2001

  

$2,500   

     

June 12, 2001 through June 11, 2002

  

$2,650   

     

June 12, 2002 through June 11, 2003

  

$2,800   

     

June 12, 2003 through June 11, 2004   

$3,000   

Print Space Rate (All Years)   

1/4 Page   

$450   

     

1/3 Page   

$550   

     

1/2 page   

$650   

     

2/3 Page   

$800   

     

3/4 Page   

$1,000   

     

Full Page   

$1,200   

  

Cover

$2,500

Electronic Space Rate (All Years)

(all sizes)

$450

Long Day is considered anything after 9 hours and will add any additional $225 to the

Day Rate.

Travel Day will be paid at $425.

Expenses must be reasonable and supported by documentation

Film and processing will be reimbursed at cost. Receipts for processing must be

submitted with the invoice.

Equipment Rentals need to be approved by assigning picture editor.

Any exceptions must be approved in advance by BW.

STOCK:

Fees for stock published or scheduled for publication during the term of the agreement:

With respect to first use of a stock photo image, you will be paid at the applicable

Print or Electronic Space Rate described above. This fee covers the entire Rights

Package in the context of a particular article in perpetuity.

If we publish or schedule to publish one of these previously published images again

during the term of the agreement in a different article in an English language print

edition of a BW publication, BW will pay an additional fifty percent (50%) of the

applicable Print Space Rate described above. This 50% fee will cover the entire Rights

Package for the different article in perpetuity.

Use of any of these images after the term of the agreement (whether previously

published during the 4 year term or not) in yet another different article will be paid

for at the then prevailing fee schedule.

COVERS USED ON REPRINT COVERS:

Additional fee for use of a magazine cover image on a reprint published during or after

the term of the agreement where the magazine cover image was first published or

scheduled for publication during the term of the agreement.

Cover Images - Reprints**

Reprint Volume

Cover Fee

(All Years)

1,000 - 5,000

$2,400

  

5,001 - 20,000

$2,950

  

20,001 - 50,000

$3,700

  

50,001 - 100,000

$4,750

  

100,001 - 150,000

$6,200

  

150,001+

$8,150

**If multiple images are used on a cover reprint, payment for the images will be

prorated based on size and the applicable volume rate.

Social Security or Federal ID numbers must be included on all invoices (where

applicable). All fees are inclusive of all sales and other taxes, if any.

Addendums

Since the contract was initially distributed two addendums have been announced. They are:

1 - The re-use of the same image will be treated as a separate transaction and will

be compensated at 100 percent of the new stock usage fee.

2 - The embarg language will be clarified to specific magazines in the embargo. Time

Magazine, Fortune, Forbes, Industry Standard and a few others will be on the list,

while the rest of the magazines in the world will be OK. It still may be OK to

license to the above publications with clearance from Business Week, but in those

case you will have to ask first.


Copyright © 2000 Jim Pickerell. The above article may not be copied, reproduced, excerpted or distributed in any manner without written permission from the author. All requests should be submitted to Selling Stock at 10319 Westlake Drive, Suite 162, Bethesda, MD 20817, phone 301-461-7627, e-mail: wvz@fpcubgbf.pbz

Jim Pickerell is founder of www.selling-stock.com, an online newsletter that publishes daily. He is also available for personal telephone consultations on pricing and other matters related to stock photography. He occasionally acts as an expert witness on matters related to stock photography. For his current curriculum vitae go to: http://www.jimpickerell.com/Curriculum-Vitae.aspx.  

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