Copyright law and creative commons

[Bcrary3]

I am a Wisconsin based photographer and I am curious to know a little bit more about the creative commons license. I have a standard model release form that is signed upon me doing any kind of work for anyone, but recently I was approached by a friend who works for a local school, and requested that I do some work for them, the issue I am running into is that while they would like to own the copyrights to the images, I do not wish to relinquish them without monetary compensation, but their budget doesn't allow them to do this. When they are signing the contract would I need to write in any kind of provision stating that they may use the images (they need un-watermarked photos). I would like to give them images without a watermark and allow them to use the images under creative commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs
CC BY-NC-ND.

Their intended use would be for their website and yearbook. Seeing as they are not getting any financial compensation from using photos on their website to display their school, I do not see this as a commercial use.

P.S. Sorry if this is a little confusing, if you are unsure of what I am trying to say, please say so.
Thanks all!

 

[quincy]

I am a Wisconsin based photographer and I am curious to know a little bit more about the creative commons license. I have a standard model release form that is signed upon me doing any kind of work for anyone, but recently I was approached by a friend who works for a local school, and requested that I do some work for them, the issue I am running into is that while they would like to own the copyrights to the images, I do not wish to relinquish them without monetary compensation, but their budget doesn't allow them to do this. When they are signing the contract would I need to write in any kind of provision stating that they may use the images (they need un-watermarked photos). I would like to give them images without a watermark and allow them to use the images under creative commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs
CC BY-NC-ND.

Their intended use would be for their website and yearbook. Seeing as they are not getting any financial compensation from using photos on their website to display their school, I do not see this as a commercial use.

P.S. Sorry if this is a little confusing, if you are unsure of what I am trying to say, please say so.
Thanks all!

A Creative Commons license does not appear to be the license that meets your stated needs. You may be better off providing your friend with a limited license, drafted to outline the conditions under which you agree your photos can be used (e.g., with the attribution you want).

A limited license can allow you to retain all rights in your photos while allowing for limited use by the school for the website and yearbook. You are not selling your copyrights in the photos or giving the school any more rights to the photos than you want them to have.

 

[Bcrary3]

A Creative Commons license does not appear to be the license that meets your stated needs. You may be better off providing your friend with a limited license, drafted to outline the conditions under which you agree your photos can be used (e.g., with the attribution you want).

A limited license can allow you to retain all rights in your photos while allowing for limited use by the school for the website and yearbook. You are not selling your copyrights in the photos or giving the school any more rights to the photos than you want them to have.

Sorry if this is a bit naive, but to draft something like that, how exactly would I do it/what should it look like?

 

[quincy]

Sorry if this is a bit naive, but to draft something like that, how exactly would I do it/what should it look like?

You can check out http://www.copyright.gov for information on licensing copyrighted works.

A limited license is just that - limited in scope. You can draft your own agreement and it can be as simple or as detailed as you want or need.

There are probably samples of licenses online somewhere that you could potentially pattern yours after but, to ensure that all that needs to be covered is covered and to ensure that you do not inadvertently give up more of your rights in your copyrighted works than you want or intend, I recommend you have an attorney draft the agreement for you.

You and the party to whom you are granting rights should both agree to all of the licensing terms as written and then sign.

Good luck.

 

[Bcrary3]

You can check out http://www.copyright.gov for information on licensing copyrighted works.

A limited license is just that - limited in scope. You can draft your own agreement and it can be as simple or as detailed as you want or need.

There are probably samples of licenses online somewhere that you could potentially pattern yours after but, to ensure that all that needs to be covered is covered and to ensure that you do not inadvertently give up more of your rights in your copyrighted works than you want or intend, I recommend you have an attorney draft the agreement for you.

You and the party to whom you are granting rights should both agree to all of the licensing terms as written and then sign.

Good luck.

Okay, here is what I started with, that I use for day-to-day operations:

(Sorry I have to type it all out again haha)

I hereby grant permission to BRANDON CRARY PHOTOGRAPHY and its representatives to take photographs or videos of me at the even or location below.

(sign here, e-mail here, phone number there, parent name here if you're under 18, production location there, date here.)

I further grant to the producers and their representatives the right to reproduce, use, exhibit, display, broadcast and distribute and create derivative works of these images and recordings in any meia now known or later developed. I acknowledge that BRANDON CRARY owns all rights to the images and recordings.

WAIVER, INDEMNITY AND RELEASE

I hereby waive any right to inspect or approve the use of the images or recordings or of any written copy. I further waive all moral rights. I also waive any right to royalties or other compensation arising from or related to the use of the images, recordings, or materials. I hereby release, defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the photographer from any liability by virtue of any blurring, distortion, alteration, optical illusion, or use in composite form, weather intentional or otherwise including but not limited to claims of deformation, invasion of privacy, or rights of publicity or copyright infringement or any misuse, that may occur or be produced in taking, processing, reduction, or production of the finished product, its publication or distribution. I am 18 ears of age or older and I am competent to contract in my own name. I have read this document before signing below, and I fully understand the contents, meaning and impact of this consent, waiver, indemnity and release. This consent, waiver, indemnity and release is binding on me, my heirs, executors, administrators and assigns.

(Sign here if 18 or older, date here. Signature of parent/guardian if under 18, date here. Signature of witness, date here.)


Do you think there would be any way of using this and simply editing it, or would it just be easiest to come up with something new?
P.S sorry for the late reply. :3

 

[quincy]

Okay, here is what I started with, that I use for day-to-day operations:

(Sorry I have to type it all out again haha)

I hereby grant permission to BRANDON CRARY PHOTOGRAPHY and its representatives to take photographs or videos of me at the even or location below.

(sign here, e-mail here, phone number there, parent name here if you're under 18, production location there, date here.)

I further grant to the producers and their representatives the right to reproduce, use, exhibit, display, broadcast and distribute and create derivative works of these images and recordings in any meia now known or later developed. I acknowledge that BRANDON CRARY owns all rights to the images and recordings.

WAIVER, INDEMNITY AND RELEASE

I hereby waive any right to inspect or approve the use of the images or recordings or of any written copy. I further waive all moral rights. I also waive any right to royalties or other compensation arising from or related to the use of the images, recordings, or materials. I hereby release, defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the photographer from any liability by virtue of any blurring, distortion, alteration, optical illusion, or use in composite form, weather intentional or otherwise including but not limited to claims of deformation, invasion of privacy, or rights of publicity or copyright infringement or any misuse, that may occur or be produced in taking, processing, reduction, or production of the finished product, its publication or distribution. I am 18 ears of age or older and I am competent to contract in my own name. I have read this document before signing below, and I fully understand the contents, meaning and impact of this consent, waiver, indemnity and release. This consent, waiver, indemnity and release is binding on me, my heirs, executors, administrators and assigns.

(Sign here if 18 or older, date here. Signature of parent/guardian if under 18, date here. Signature of witness, date here.)


Do you think there would be any way of using this and simply editing it, or would it just be easiest to come up with something new?
P.S sorry for the late reply. :3

I think what you have here is a good contract for you, the photographer, to have signed by your subjects in the way of a release of their rights in your works.

But it would be awfully hard to edit this contract to fit what you need in the way of a license granted by you to the school. It would be easiest to come up with something new.

A license is simply a granting to another of rights to use your work - and the license can be limited to a one time use or for one particular purpose in exchange for X amount of dollars or for attribution only or whatever. The license should reflect exactly what you are willing to "give up" in your rights to your photographs and what you want in exchange for granting use of your photographs.

For the yearbook/website use, you can draft a limited license allowing for limited rights to use your photos on X website (designate website and terms of use for the site - time limit, conditions, etc) and for X yearbook (designate yearbook's school, year, etc) in exchange for either X amount of dollars or, if you prefer, attribution only.

I suggest you search online for "limited licenses" for photographs. There are some good photography sites that have samples or templates.


Have you had your shot for Uganda yet?

 

[quincy]

... I think something like this will work, now my question is, do I have one of these for each person, or do I just have them sign my standard model release?

And to answer your question, I have not yet, coming up in July if everything goes according to plan!

P.S. Sorry I had to post this in two parts

I think something like this will work, if edited quite a bit and carefully to fit your needs. You will want to have any of those who will be using your images in the yearbook or on the website sign the form. Those you photographed can still release their rights to their images through your standard model release form.

I have not visited Jenny's site to see if the license you have reprinted here has rights attached (it might), but definitely having her contact information published here is against the terms of service of this site, so you would be smart to delete the license agreement (or most of it, at any rate) before the moderators need to delete it for you.

I recommend that you take a copy of this license to an attorney in your area, to help you do the proper editing, this to ensure that all that is needed to protect your rights and grant limited rights to the images remains and all that is unnecessary is removed.

I think it is a well-written license.

 

[Bcrary3]

I think something like this will work, if edited quite a bit and carefully to fit your needs. You will want to have any of those who will be using your images in the yearbook or on the website sign the form. Those you photographed can still release their rights to their images through your standard model release form.

I have not visited Jenny's site to see if the license you have reprinted here has rights attached (it might), but definitely having her contact information published here is against the terms of service of this site, so you would be smart to delete the license agreement (or most of it, at any rate) before the moderators need to delete it for you.

I recommend that you take a copy of this license to an attorney in your area, to help you do the proper editing, this to ensure that all that is needed to protect your rights and grant limited rights to the images remains and all that is unnecessary is removed.

I think it is a well-written license.

Alright, I will do that! Thanks for the help!

 

[quincy]

Alright, I will do that! Thanks for the help!

You're welcome, Bcrary3.

And thank you for removing the posts with Jenny's license. I do think it is a good, comprehensive one, covering all areas that are smart to cover. It just needs to be reworked a little bit for your purposes.

Good luck.