Need quick info

Hello! I need some advice and opinion on an upcoming shoot I have. A friend of mine is a personal trainer and has written a book on being fit. She has asked me to shoot the cover image and come workout images to go inside. She has informed me that the contract she signed with the publisher requires that she has copyright of the images from the shoot. I know this is not nature based but a book shoot is a book shoot in my opinion. It is only the subject matter that changes.

Has anyone ever done this type of thing before? What do I charge for the copyright? Do I still need to charge an hourly rate for the shoot? I am the one who has to come up with the contract for this shoot and I am so confused on how to charge her for the shoot. I will make no money on the sale of this book and I am concerned about being ripped off. Also does this type of shoot have a shoot by shoot contract or can you have a contract that covers multiple shoots in one?

Please let me know if anyone can give me just a little advice on this. I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you

Tammy Mellert
TJ Reflections Photography

Tammy, I can't answer your questions, but hopefully some will be able to help you. In addition to posting your question here, you might also want to post this in the Photo Marketing forum here at NPN.

Thank you for replying so quickly. I also posted it on the Marketing section so hopefully someone will let me know where I should go with this

Thank you again
Tammy

Tammy,

You might consider this a "work for hire" situation and thus the copyright likely would belong to whomever hires you [I believe]. I'm not a lawyer, so take this all with a grain of salt. When I have a situation like this, I assume that I'm working for someone else, as a contractor, and that the copyright belongs to them. And, this is when I charge my day rate, which I expect to cover my hourly rate, my expenses and the transferal of the copyright.

You also might check out the Business forum on Photo.net, search PhotoAttorney.com, or find a copy of Carolyn E. Wright's book "Photographer's Legal Guide." Carolyn covers the issue of work-for-hire in her book, pretty similarly to how I described it above...

Good luck,

Tim!

Thank you so much for getting back to me on this. I am getting a copy of that book just as soon as I can. I sent a copy of the contract and pricing to her so hopefully it will all go well.

Thanks again
Tammy