Hey I am a new fashion photographer. If you have the time I would appreciate your advice!
Do I need the models consent to sell prints from the shoot? Or is their signature on the model release form enough ?
A model I just met and plan on working with later this summer recently asked me “In addition to uploading photos to your social media accounts will you be making money from selling photos from our shoot?”
I have been advised that I could give the model 10-15% from future prints sold, but I should leave that statement off of my model release, because in the future I might not want to do that every time.
This advice is a bit confusing. Is paying a model a percentage from my prints sold common practice ?
This is also a Trade shoot since we are both building our portfolios.
Thank you !
I would think it would depend on your agreement with the model. If your agreement with the model includes some kind of renumeration for their services based on your ability to sell copies of the images, then yes.
If there was no agreement for paying the model in the event of sales of one or more of the images, it becomes an issue of ethics -- do you pay your collaborator or not?
Personally, I can't see myself in a position where I would be making money from work that was dependent on the contribution of another person without including that person in the financial rewards of *our* work. Although creating the image is up to me, and I have considerable investment in both equipment and learning, the model is part of what must (in my mind) be considered a collaboration.
Yes, I would definitely share my profits with my model, based it on a percentage of those profits.
Agree with Don.
If you pay a model to pose then that is all they get. But if it is a trade shoot (you both contribute time/effort) you don't legally have to pay them a % from future sales but I would think it was fair and ethical to do so.
How would you feel if the situation was reversed and someone you collaborated with equally then made money from the images and didn't share?
Also FYI - you don't need a model release to sell prints. A model release is only needed when an image is used to advertise/promote something else (such as a soft drink, a car, a company or a cause). If you are selling the actual image in the form of a print or displaying it in a gallery it is considered art use and no release is needed.