Is This The Future for Licensing To Text Books?
TweetI teach an online class about the business of nature photography and last winter I had a student in the course that I just received an email from the other day regarding a stock usage that was proposed to him.
The student was contacting me for my opinion on a potential stock sale of an old image he had taken in the 80’s. He had been contacted by a text book company who had found his blog and the picture of the Yellowstone fire aftermath in the late 80’s. (Thanks to excellent keywording.)
They wanted to license the picture and said the target print run would be 1,000,000 text books, which I think is the planned print run before a total re-edit of the book. They offered $1200.00 for the use for a 4×6 inside use.
Now my pricing guide suggests a 1 million print run would be around $1000.00 and is probably the rate I would have quoted, but things have changed since this book was published in 2007. In this economy with plummeting prices, what can you really expect to get? Is the ‘normal’ rate a little lower or a lot lower?
The difference here is that the publisher offered $1200 for the life of the book and estimated that would be a 1 million print run. They did not ask for any other rights.
When my student contacted me my first impression was that a $1200.00 sale is quite good these days and for a 1 million print run it seemed average. I also wondered why they offered that price right up front.
He asked and the client said they have decided to negotiate and pay the higher fee so they don’t have to renegotiate in a year or two. The client said that having to keep track of license agreements with a lot of photographers and agencies, some of whom disappear and can’t be found, has turned in a laborious task. They found it much easier to offer a long term usage agreement for a higher fee.
As usage fees continue to plummet is this crowded market, I hate to say it but $1200 would look pretty really attractive to me. I also wonder if this is becoming a common approach to image licensing with book publishers-one fee for the life of the book.
Do you have any similar experience with textbook publishers? And would you agree to these terms for that price? Let’s discuss it!
Related Posts: Establishing a Price Based on an Images Usage
Not with a textbook, but retail book. International Publisher wanted world rights, all languages, all editions, and was willing to pay 4 figures for use. Exact reason was they didn’t want to renegotiate use fees. “We don’t have a system to track all that stuff.” ** rolling eyes ** .
Thanks for your input Gary. That will help others figure out what to do.
I shot an assignment for an ad agency a few months ago and they wanted unlimited print and web use (non-exclusive) for similar reasons I believe. They didn’t hassle over price very much so I went for it since it was a relatively easy shoot for the money I was getting paid.
Hey Richard-
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. It seems that your approach would be the same as charging a fee that covers everything the client wants and if works for both parties, why not? Take care, Charlie
I run across the same thing all the time. It seems that many companies now days really don’t want to hassle with coming back to extend an expired license. On occasion I find they are willing to pay more for expanded rights up front. Frequently, however, they offer an amount that would only cover a one year license or a minimal print run but ask for open ended use. Holding firm or even finding a middle ground there can be tough.
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Found your post while researching after receiving a staggeringly low offer from a textbook publisher here in the UK. £80 for expanded rights over ten years! Unbelievable…