Licensing of Your Copyrighted Work Protects You and Gets You Paid
Any professional photographer, videographer, writer, artist or other creative individual all have one thing in common: the need for licensing agreements to protect them and get them paid for their work.
A license agreement is a contract between a copyright holder and someone who wants to use or acquire your copyright protected work.
- Photographers enter into license agreements allowing others to use their photographs
- Musicians enter into license agreements to allow others to perform, adapt or reproduce their work
- Artists, including designers, illustrators and others, sign license agreements with those who want to publish their work
- Video and film professionals also license their work to those that want to use that work
The reality is that a solid license agreement – a contract to use your copyright protected material – is an essential for any professional to earn a living.
Modeling Agreements to Define and Protect Your Legal Rights
Models and photographers work hard, and a well-defined modeling agreement protects both people. Whether you are a model or photographer, you want to be sure the agreement carefully defines what is included and not included, any fees, royalties and permitted use of the images.
Many disputes between models, photographers and the purchasers of images could be avoided by using experienced copyright lawyers to carefully draft your modeling agreement.
Contracts for Photography Assignments
Nearly all professional photographers offer their services to others. While the photographer owns the copyright to his/her work, the other party will want rights to the images in exchange for a fee.
Before entering into an assignment, the photographer needs to clearly understand his rights and obligations, fee structure and more. Without a clear definition, you are opening yourself up to disputes, confusions and tarnished professional relationships.
Licensing, Assignments and Modeling Agreements
You received an agreement for a photography assignment? Are you an illustrator licensing out your images? Are you hiring a model, and need to make sure your rights are protected? Are you licensing work for display but not merchandising?
We often see agreements in the industry that do not protect the creative individual, leaving him or her open to problems with licensing, model rights, fees, copyright issues and more.
Our experienced copyright lawyers can review your agreement for you, make recommendations, and, if necessary, negotiate on your behalf.
