Stephen, I license my images for use on several products (books, calendars, cups, plates, framed prints, magnets...) and one of my images was recently chosen for greeting card licensing with worldwide distribution rights thru a large card company. The image is Wedding Roses. Things to be aware of: Distribution. Where are these cards going? US, Europe, worldwide? What are the channels of distribution? How do they get there? Term of Contract. How long will they have rights to your image? Get this in writing. Exclusivity. Can you use the image for other things...including cards with another company...while this company is using it? Guarantee. The company should have SOME idea of what you can expect to make on this venture. Best case/worst case and inbetween. They don't pick images they hope will sell, they pick images they KNOW will sell. Have them tell you what they expect it will do in the market. Also ask WHY they picked that image. What about it was appealing? Trust me, they know the answers to all these questions. Right to audit. What if you think they are selling more than they report to you? Do you have any recourse? My contracts state that I can audit any company at any time for descrepencies in accounting. If they are more than 5% off in what they've paid in royalties they have to pay for the audit and the difference plus interest. Approval. Do you have any say in how your image looks on their card? What if they want to put text with it and you don't like what they say? Can you refuse to sign off? What if they use colors, edges, design you don't like? Can you refuse to allow it to be made if you don't approve? Copyright. Will the card bear your copyright as you wish it to be? Legal fees. What if you end up going to court. Who pays? In what state do you go to court? You would prefer your state and not theirs if you live in two different states. It's cheaper that way. My best case licensing is with Dayspring...a division of Hallmark. They are honest and pay on time. They also sell like mad. My worst case is a company who made HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS on my images by putting them on cups and plates and distributed them all over the world. They stopped paying royalty fees. My agent and I discovered the company was over 50 thousand dollars in arrears to me. He didn't pay. I sued, won the judgement but guess what? He declared bankruptcy, shut down the business and opened in another state with a new name. Without investing loads on legal fees there was nothing I could do to get the money due me. I rest comfortably knowing what goes around comes around and he'll get his due some day. The best contract in the world doesn't guarantee that people are honest, so you have to be careful. Go with your gut. Lea ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stephen Buckman" <buckoproductions@rcn.com> To: "List for Photo/Imaging Educators - Professionals - Students" <photoforum@listserver.isc.rit.edu> Sent: Monday, December 23, 2002 9:30 PM Subject: Greeting card distributor? > Hi all, > > I have a question regarding a greeting card distributor who may want to buy > some of my photos. Here is the letter he sent me. I don't know if this is a > good deal. Please help if anyone can. Thanks. > > Steve > > > THE CONTRACT IN ESSENCE STIPULATES THAT ALL IMAGES USED ARE COPY RIGHTED BY > YOU, YOU WILL RETAIN OWNERSHIP OF ALL IMAGES, AND THE CONTRACT SIMPLY > LICENSES US TO MARKET THEM. > > THERE IS A ROYALTY AMOUNT PAID UPON THE SALE OF EACH CARD WHICH IS .03 CENTS > PER CARD, WHICH FOR EXAMPLE, IF SOLD IN BOXES OF 15, YOUR ROYALTY IS .45 PER > BOX. > > ROYALTIES ARE PAID TWICE A YEAR > THIS ESSENTIALLY BECOMES AN ANNUITY, IF WE SELECTED TEN IMAGES THE FIRST > YEAR, AND NOTHING AFTER THAT, YOU WOULD CONTINUE TO RECEIVE ROYALTYS NOT > ONLY FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE CONTRACT, BUT UNTIL ANY EXISTING INVENTORY IS > SOLD OUT EVEN AFTER THE TERMINATION OF THE CONTRACT. > > 1] There is no set dollar amount that can be stated as to potential income. > 2] We do not purchase the photo,you retain ownership of the image, the back > of the card lists copyright to you. > 3] compensation is at the rate of 3 cents per card upon sales, with payments > made twice each year, June 30th, and end of year at as of December 31st. > 4] There is no way we can predict or guarantee what the sales will be, there > are two many intangibles > 5] the way we 'test the waters' is to place copies of the cards in the hands > of the sales people the first of the year, and let them book orders, most > Christmas card aelection and purchasing is finished by the end of May, based > on the orders taken, we determine which images to print and quantity. Our > minimum print run is 2500 cards (166 boxes), and we have often had print > runs in excess of 10,000 cards. > As you can see the money is made on having a variety of images, not just two > or three. And of course, once the image is included in the line, it becomes > an annuity, > and produces income in future years with out any other input. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
