OT: I'm ticked off - newspaper credit missing

VinceC said:
Bill,
Thanks for the notes. I fully understand where you're coming from as the event photographer.

Newspaper folk, like the rest of us, are overworked and underpaid and, to top it off, all their mistakes and omissions are out there for all the world to see. As you found out, most reporters know squat about photography (and it's their loss, because everyone looks at the photos, but who REALLY reads those stories word-for-word?) so it's usually best to ask the reporter for his/her editor's point of contact, usually email will suffice. Of course, with a smaller paper, oftentimes everyone on staff does a little bit of everything.
Click to expand...

I think that thanks to you, I know a tiny little bit more now than I did - and I appreciate it! I never would have tweaked that the editor would not like 380 digital photos - geez, here I was thinking the more the merrier. I will work on the 'patience' bit.

Thanks, I really mean it. Thanks to all who responded!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
bmattock said:
I appreciate the advice. And, I am not a lawyer. But I do know that in order for there to be a contract, both parties must have 'agency' - that is, they must have the legal right to bind their respective employers by signing a contract. I obviously have agency - I am a sole proprietor. I could be wrong - but I very much doubt that a reporter has agency for a newspaper - hence, she could not have signed if she had wanted to. In fact, she most likely would refused to have signed, referring the matter to her boss - and that would have been the end of it. I'm not sure that waving around a contract while I was standing hip-deep in clients waiting for their souvenir shot would have worked.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
Click to expand...
But, you could have told her you would get right back to her and contacted the paper afterwards. In this day and age it pays to be over cautious
 
Byuphoto said:
But, you could have told her you would get right back to her and contacted the paper afterwards. In this day and age it pays to be over cautious
Click to expand...

That's a very good point. Have to admit, didn't think of it. Thanks!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Postscript on picture credit

Postscript on picture credit

bill, I forgot to mention that when you're assigned by a newspaper or other client to take pictures, they tell you exactly what they want and you probably do not have to identify your photos too much...On the other hand, if you bring pictures to them on spec, they need to know what you're showing them....regards, bob
 
All good advice here 🙂

On events I have no problem to come back with 200+ pics without taking notes, if names are needed I have an assitant taking notes, i.e. frame number and names.

We often do teamwork with one photographer taking the celebrity shots on the stage and another with assitant snapping in the crowd. We have a list of whom to shoot and if we don't know them we get them pointed out either on location or with pictures befor.

The client gets a CD with images named after the people in the image for limited use and we retain the copyright.

If a paper publishes our pictures there are two possibilities, and prices, the first is limited use for the paper with credit to the photographer and the second is sell of full copyright without limitations and no credit to the PG. The last is very expensive 🙂
 
Here in Brazil, as I understand it, the photog has an inalienable right to credit for authorship/intellectual property, even if he/she has signed over every other right there is. I think there's one exception when photog is employed and directed by another. Here you almost never see a photo without credit to either an agency or an individual photog - often both.
 
Why free?

Why free?

Lets see now, a newspaper likes to use pictures because it adds value to their product. So the first point is why give them your work for free?
Second point is a credit is worthless. In over 35 years of photography for a living I have never earned a penny from a credit, neither has anyone else I know. You can not go shopping with a credit either.
A credit is not worth getting excited about, what you need is paying with money not a credit.
I'm always getting asked by publications (because we like your work so much) "can we use one of your pictures", "sure you can, tell me the size, position and number of copies and I'l give you a price" . Chances are they say we don't have a budget for photography we will give you a credit.
Put the phone down and don't waste anymore time with them.
It's money you want not a credit, it's a business not an ego trip.
 
You essentially handed all rights over to the city. When you forgot rights or shoot for another party the credit often reads that the photos are courtesy of Xyz. The photographer often doesn't get credit.

I've been in it full time for fifty years. When you give work away you're not taken seriously as a charging professional would be. I never give work away except to close friends and family.
 
We try to always credit the photography in our newspapers; but, when these things go through a lot of hands, sometimes it happens that no credit is given.

The reporter is not the person who ultimately placed the photo on the page. Unless the reporter indicated to the editor (and/or person doing the page layout) a credit line, the person doing the layout assumed the photographer wasn't known. That happens a lot these days, with all the crowd sourcing that goes on.

Stuff happens. Especially on tight deadlines.
 
Ask the newspaper to run a note in their corrections section. That will help some. It's a bad idea to give a reporter a disk with many pix on them. Next time pick 4 or 5 and put them on a memory stuck along with an note showing your credit or e-mail them to an editor.
BTW: The links don't work.
 
easyrider said:
Ask the newspaper to run a note in their corrections section. That will help some. It's a bad idea to give a reporter a disk with many pix on them. Next time pick 4 or 5 and put them on a memory stuck along with an note showing your credit or e-mail them to an editor.
BTW: The links don't work.
Click to expand...

After ten years it's not really surprising is it? 😉
 
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