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BermanGraphics |
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What is stock photography
really worth? |
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Let me preface this by saying that I was a
sports photographer
in the mid 1970’s. I worked with the New York Nets basketball team the
last three years of the ABA, which were the three years that
Julius Erving
(Dr. J) played for them. Because of that, I have quite a collection of
unique Julius Erving pictures that I sell fine art prints of and license
for commercial use. |
| I was recently contacted by a company that’s producing a show on
sports collectibles for the Discovery Network. They wanted to
license between seven and ten pictures of Julius Erving (and
probably some of the other players I photographed) for unlimited
use, all markets for ten years. My initial quote was way over what
they told me Getty and the Associated Press quoted them. I was told
that Getty was willing to take $500 an image for ten years and the
Associated Press wanted $175 an image for ten years. Though I had
unique images that they wanted to use, they wouldn’t pay more than
the Associated Press price. Even $500 an image became more than what
they wanted to pay. |
| It's really a shame that photography has been
reduced in value over the years to the point where ten year
unlimited use nets a photographer less than $10 per year, less than
2% of what the same images would have licensed for ten years ago.
And a note to the companies licensing the images; don't put
individual photographers with unique images out of business because
the agencies that supposedly represent photographers give their work away.
Unique and rare should be fostered and rewarded. |
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