I just rec'd an email asking to use one of my images in a German Magazine. They found the image on NPN and also attached a copy of it they pulled from NPN to the email they sent. Does anyone know this publication or had any dealings with them. Any other advice or comments would be appreciated before I call them tomorrow.
Thanks in advance, Mike
The following is a copy of the email request I rec'd today:
Dear Mike,
I am the U.S. correspondent for HOERZU, a German family- and entertainment magazine published in Hamburg.
We happened to come across your wonderful image of the bird of prey, capturing a fish - see attached in low res. Our editors are interested in this image as the opener to our "Picture of the Week" page in Hoerzu. This section always shows eye-catching images from nature, science, architecture etc. The images run on about 1 1/2pages, with a little text about the project shown.The license fee for this is usually $350.00 for 1 1/2 pages, one-time, inside editorial usage. I hope this is doable for you?!
Prior to confirming the usage I would just kindly ask you to provide a high resolution file of the image, so our art department can make sure the quality is sufficient. Due to the fact that the image will be printed on 1+1/2 pages, the size is always an issue. Do you have a raw file or a tif of this image available? If the photo will be too big to email (up to 10MB is ok), perhaps you can send it by wetransfer.com or a similar program?!
Please get back to me at your earliest convenience.
Kind Regards,
Simone
Simone Pipek
Barbette Media Services
356 West 121st Street, New York, NY 10027
I'm not at all familiar with the magazine or the media service, but that ought to be simple enough for you to check out. The message seems legit.
Posted by Paul DeCesare on July 15, 2014 at 12:38 AM
Prior to confirming the usage I would just kindly ask you to provide a high resolution file of the image, so our art department can make sure the quality is sufficient.
Hmmmmmm... not comfy with that for some reason... if it was a known magazine, maybe. Maybe I'm nuts, but I'd tell them that they must PayPal you the $350 and you will provide the image, and then if they find its use unacceptable then you will refund them full price once they send a simple Letter of Destruction stating that the image file has been deleted from their system.
This is a TV program magazine, contains the weekly programs plus articles, photos., etc. I know it from the time we lived in Europe many years ago. It was kind of a standard then, well known - and it may still be, I simply have no recent information.
I do not know the media services company.
Transfer via wetransfer.com works well. I have used it a few days ago to transfer high resolution images. They send you a confirmation when the images have been downloaded, so you know that they have arrived and you have a record of the transaction.
Basically, it's sent to an e-mail address - so the underlying assumption has to be that the holder of that e-mail address is the intended recipient. A domain based e-mail would help provide additional comfort here.
I've never sent raw files and would be very reluctant to do so. I think that a high resolution tif or even a jpg should be sufficient for such an application.
Thanks Paul, David. Roger and Buck,
I have talked with the representative at the Media Services in New York, very nice people and she answered all my questions. I am sending them the image for approval. Will let you know what happens.
Posted by Greg Vaughn on July 15, 2014 at 12:43 PM
It has been a number of years, but I've dealt with both Barbette Media Services and Hoerzu Magazine in the past. They are legit, and so is their request. You handled it well by talking with them and settling your concerns.
Congrats Mike. I was going to say first, the price seems fair and probably in the standard ball park. However, that assumes a certain set of rights. Have you discussed or have they mentioned usage rights? for that price, this should probably be a ONE TIME use, with perhaps allowances for promotional usage etc. What is the term? 1 year? or are they getting this for $350 in perpetuity? If you don't have one already, you should have a delivery memo, or at least some contract/letter where both parties agree on the. Great to get $350, but if you start seeing your image pop up year after year in different publications and usages, then you got taken. But I'm sure a reputable magazine and it's on the up and up. Just CYA your image rights.
I see you already sent the file, but I was going to suggest the highest quality resolution, but just crop it down to just a part of the body, head/beak etc. so the image would be of no value, but would should the image quality and resolution.
Thanks Greg, Catherine and Lon,
Lon this is for a one time usage. They sent me a hand full of previous lay-outs for the 'Picture of the Week' section in the magazine and it looks like a nice stepping stone for a photographer's work to progress, get exposure and add to a resume and that is always a good thing.
Discussion
10 repliesThanks in advance, Mike
The following is a copy of the email request I rec'd today:
Dear Mike,
I am the U.S. correspondent for HOERZU, a German family- and entertainment magazine published in Hamburg.
We happened to come across your wonderful image of the bird of prey, capturing a fish - see attached in low res. Our editors are interested in this image as the opener to our "Picture of the Week" page in Hoerzu. This section always shows eye-catching images from nature, science, architecture etc. The images run on about 1 1/2pages, with a little text about the project shown.The license fee for this is usually $350.00 for 1 1/2 pages, one-time, inside editorial usage. I hope this is doable for you?!
Prior to confirming the usage I would just kindly ask you to provide a high resolution file of the image, so our art department can make sure the quality is sufficient. Due to the fact that the image will be printed on 1+1/2 pages, the size is always an issue. Do you have a raw file or a tif of this image available? If the photo will be too big to email (up to 10MB is ok), perhaps you can send it by wetransfer.com or a similar program?!
Please get back to me at your earliest convenience.
Kind Regards,
Simone
Simone Pipek
Barbette Media Services
356 West 121st Street, New York, NY 10027
Hmmmmmm... not comfy with that for some reason... if it was a known magazine, maybe. Maybe I'm nuts, but I'd tell them that they must PayPal you the $350 and you will provide the image, and then if they find its use unacceptable then you will refund them full price once they send a simple Letter of Destruction stating that the image file has been deleted from their system.
I do not know the media services company.
Transfer via wetransfer.com works well. I have used it a few days ago to transfer high resolution images. They send you a confirmation when the images have been downloaded, so you know that they have arrived and you have a record of the transaction.
Basically, it's sent to an e-mail address - so the underlying assumption has to be that the holder of that e-mail address is the intended recipient. A domain based e-mail would help provide additional comfort here.
I've never sent raw files and would be very reluctant to do so. I think that a high resolution tif or even a jpg should be sufficient for such an application.
I have talked with the representative at the Media Services in New York, very nice people and she answered all my questions. I am sending them the image for approval. Will let you know what happens.
Also enjoyed reading the knowledgeable replies. Thanks to all.
I see you already sent the file, but I was going to suggest the highest quality resolution, but just crop it down to just a part of the body, head/beak etc. so the image would be of no value, but would should the image quality and resolution.
Just a few thoughts.
Lon
Lon this is for a one time usage. They sent me a hand full of previous lay-outs for the 'Picture of the Week' section in the magazine and it looks like a nice stepping stone for a photographer's work to progress, get exposure and add to a resume and that is always a good thing.