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breach of contract advice

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S

solemb

Guest
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CO but services were rendered in NY.

I contracted with a wedding photographer for my wedding in NYC. We had a contract that stated he would deliver a disc of "full-sized, high resolution" digital images. I was planning to make my own prints since I do graphic design work and this is easy for me. It was critical in my selection of photographer that I receive these images. I wouldn't have contracted with him otherwise.

Turns out he neglected to check his camera settings before the wedding, and he shot smaller images. We won't be able to print any 8x10s, quality on 5x7s will be variable depending on the image, and I won't be able to do much in the way of cropping images and other creative work I had hoped to do. We should be able to get 4x6 images of decent quality - I have to test this. But what is clear in the contract is not able to be delivered. There are not full-sized, high resolution images due to his error.

We paid him $800 for 3 hours of shooting. I do want to keep these lower quality images so we have something from the wedding. So, I'm willing to pay him something. I'm just not sure what's fair, considering we'll end up with snapshots only, with many images composed in such a way that you can barely see people's faces in them at the 4x6 size.

Any advice on this is appreciated. He is waiting to hear from me on a price and we'll negotiate from there. He has not been very accommodating considering his error, so from a business point of view he's really not making me happy, on top of the disappointment of having low quality photos from my wedding. But I'm still trying to be fair and appropriate considering our contract, and, that I would like to keep the low quality images.
 


Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
He is willing to negotiate. Offer what you think is reasonable based on what you received. Yours (at this point) is not a legal question.


What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CO but services were rendered in NY.

I contracted with a wedding photographer for my wedding in NYC. We had a contract that stated he would deliver a disc of "full-sized, high resolution" digital images. I was planning to make my own prints since I do graphic design work and this is easy for me. It was critical in my selection of photographer that I receive these images. I wouldn't have contracted with him otherwise.

Turns out he neglected to check his camera settings before the wedding, and he shot smaller images. We won't be able to print any 8x10s, quality on 5x7s will be variable depending on the image, and I won't be able to do much in the way of cropping images and other creative work I had hoped to do. We should be able to get 4x6 images of decent quality - I have to test this. But what is clear in the contract is not able to be delivered. There are not full-sized, high resolution images due to his error.

We paid him $800 for 3 hours of shooting. I do want to keep these lower quality images so we have something from the wedding. So, I'm willing to pay him something. I'm just not sure what's fair, considering we'll end up with snapshots only, with many images composed in such a way that you can barely see people's faces in them at the 4x6 size.

Any advice on this is appreciated. He is waiting to hear from me on a price and we'll negotiate from there. He has not been very accommodating considering his error, so from a business point of view he's really not making me happy, on top of the disappointment of having low quality photos from my wedding. But I'm still trying to be fair and appropriate considering our contract, and, that I would like to keep the low quality images.
 
S

solemb

Guest
not a legal question?

I'm holding a signed contract for services and the services were not rendered, so what is my obligation to pay? What kind of remedy is appropriate? Apologies if I'm missing the point on what's a legal question and what's not. To me, this is a specific question about what happens now that the contract was breached. What if we can't come to an agreement in our negotiation? He has my money.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
I'm holding a signed contract for services and the services were not rendered, so what is my obligation to pay? What kind of remedy is appropriate? Apologies if I'm missing the point on what's a legal question and what's not. To me, this is a specific question about what happens now that the contract was breached. What if we can't come to an agreement in our negotiation? He has my money.
You and he both agree that he did not provide what he had contracted to provide. He has asked you to make an offer based on what you think the service he provided is worth. The question you have is what is "fair" (...I'm willing to pay him something. I'm just not sure what's fair...). That is not a legal question.

The rest of your questions are moot if you come to an agreement.
 
S

solemb

Guest
I should know better than to use such a word

I was actually hoping to hear about the aspects you're calling moot. If I understand the law in such a case I would be able to negotiate more skillfully. What would likely happen in small claims, if I didn't want to pay anything and wanted to keep the low quality images? Thank you for the opportunity to clarify my question.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
I was actually hoping to hear about the aspects you're calling moot. If I understand the law in such a case I would be able to negotiate more skillfully. What would likely happen in small claims, if I didn't want to pay anything and wanted to keep the low quality images? Thank you for the opportunity to clarify my question.
You're not going to be able to pay nothing and keep the photos...be reasonable.

NEGOTIATE!

This really doesn't have to go to court.
 

OHRoadwarrior

Senior Member
I suggest you do not mention that you were apparently going to ignore his copyright on the images and print/size all you wanted.
 
S

solemb

Guest
riiiiight...

I guess this is the payment for free advice? Someone talking to me like I'm a total moron? This is definitely not a community for me. Oh, and let me know if you need a wedding photographer - got a recommendation for ya.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
I guess this is the payment for free advice? Someone talking to me like I'm a total moron? This is definitely not a community for me. Oh, and let me know if you need a wedding photographer - got a recommendation for ya.
Alrighty then! :rolleyes:
 

jiggy78

Member
Get off your high horse. You respond to his offer with what you think is fair. There is nothing complicated about this and you don't need legal advice.

I suggest you do not mention that you were apparently going to ignore his copyright on the images and print/size all you wanted.
Where are you getting this from? It is common for a wedding photographer to hand over copyright to the pictures.
 

quincy

Senior Member
Where are you getting this from? It is common for a wedding photographer to hand over copyright to the pictures.
Actually, it is more common for a wedding photographer to retain the copyrights in the photos he takes.

After the wedding, a client is typically provided with proofs of all of the photographs that were taken. The client can then pick out and pay for the photos s/he wants. Any additional prints or reprints or different sizes that are wanted later must be ordered through the photographer.

The client is paying for the wedding photographer's services and then is paying for only the single prints he selects. He is not paying for the reproduction rights of these photos. These typically remain with the photographer.

In other words, OHR possibly has it right here. Unless the contract solemb has with the photographer specifically transfers some or all of the copyrights in the photos to solemb, it would be illegal for solemb to make copies of the wedding photos.
 
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racer72

Senior Member
Having just paid a bit over $4000 for wedding photographer services myself, I would say you got $800 worth of services.
 

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