A very talented photographer I know, recently asked my opinion on an offer someone had given him. A magazine wanted to use a photo of his, but they were operating on a minimal budget, unable to afford the market rates, so they asked if he would let them publish it in return for being credited and sent a few copies. In other words: Bragging rights. His question to me was, whether or not he should do it.
I sell my photos as microstock. That means that you can get very high quality copies of my work, complete with a license agreement permitting you to print the image up to half a million times. All for about $10. So, I have very little patience for those who are too cheap to pay even that little. However, not everyone has a stock portfolio (tsk tsk), and if you've never been published before, chances are good that you're itching to see your work in print. I don't blame you.
It's a very tough choice. Easy bragging rights and a first step towards a wider recognition versus money. I tend to look at it like this: By using my photo, the client gets added value to their product. It seems only fair, that I should get my slice of that added value. The question is, which of the two holds the highest value to you; credit or cash? Normally, I would say that a little bit of both would be the best solution. In the end, it's a matter of using common sense, intuition and princple.
In this case, I actually ended up breaking the previously mentioned principle, by telling my friend to go ahead, and say yes to get printed for credit alone. Simply because it was his first offer ever, his first step into a bigger, brighter world! Or at least something cool to show the parents. Either way, it's a special feeling, and worth giving away the image for. But I also told him, to start researching the local market prices for the type of photos he shoots, so that he'll be prepared the next time a potential client comes around.
Rasmus Rasmussen is on loan from iStockphoto, where he is part of the image inspection team.
I recently had the same issue of Artforum magazine wanting to use my image with only a creditline. I think any of the major publishers, and Artforum publishes internationally, should be able to afford $100 and less for publication. Unfortunately, since I was a last minute addition (due for publication in the April 2008 issue), I didn't have time to make an alternative offer. By that, I mean having a licensing agreement such as the one you mention. Do you have a similar sample that can be shared with somebody like myself?