Photographer Copyright Royalties?

[EDDIE51]

My son is a professional photographer ( or at least will be)
He has just been offered a long term contract for a sporting organisation (can't name it as the plans are still confidential) He has done 2 photo shoots so far, both were day long jobs, and he has been paid £600 for each day.
He has taken over a thousand shots that will be edited down to a few 100.
I am not sure how it works over copyright. Does he hold the copyright or does the organisation that hired him hold it? There are some very well known sports men in his photos so the copyright could be substantial.
Any advice please?

[jno]

that will depend on the contract, but my guess is the organisation will hold it; that's what they're paying a (quite considerable) sum for.

[bednobs]

what does the contrat say?

[EDDIE51]

I'm not sure what the contract says , this was all a bit of a rush. He got a phone call Friday morning asking him if he could do it. He didn't know till he got to the venue how big the job was going to be or what it was.
I think the organisation will hold copyright but he says he does.

[EDDIE51]

He'd only done a few portrait sessions and some charity sports days until now. It was someone who saw his work at the charity sports days that recommended him for this job.

[wolf63]

I usually base my legal decisions on logic - the law is not always logical.

Good luck to your son Eddie. Photography is very much an art and a skill. I hope that it works out to his advantage.

[Tuvok]

My work uses a professional photographer and when he gives us the disk it says (c) Joe Bloggs but they are our photos!

Perhaps he licences the photos to the company or specifies what they can be used for, or insists that he is credited each time they use them

If you look at some of the stock photo sites you'll see that some set a linit of how many copies a photo can be used e. a print run of xx,0000

[jackthehat]

There may be an added complication in that a lot of sports-stars hold their own 'image-rights'.

He'll need to get this sort of stuff sorted out for his future work.

[EDDIE51]

Tuvok that sounds like what he was saying to me. He sends them a disk or memory card with the edited photos on it. But he will still have the originals.

[EDDIE51]

jackthehat Good point I had not thought of that angle to it.
I think I can say it involves a well known football club.

[jno]

Tuvok, you get the photos - that is the paper with the images on - but the image itself remains the photographer's copyright. That is, he has the right to copy it and sell it on to others (again, this will depend on the wording of the contract).

I imagine in Eddie's case the club, if such it is, will want the right to make and sell copies of the photos they have paid a photographer to take.

[Zacs-Master]

Some good points on here. Facts rather than speculation:
http://www.own-it.org/knowledge/i-m-a-photographer-what-do-i-need-to-know-about-ip

[Marshwarble]

Don't rush into contracts, big mistake. If he has done two photoshoots then yes, he is a professional photographer.
He should be asking the employer these questions, BEFORE he signs the contract.

[Marshwarble]

Congratulations and I hope they will some silverware soon!

[jno]

ZM's link seems to say what I said

"when a work is made by an employee during the course of employment; in such cases, IP [intellectual property] rights are normally owned by the employer, unless otherwise negotiated by the relevant member of staff."

So it depends on the wording of the contract, but the default position is that employers hold the copyright. They're highly unlikely to negotiate them away for anyone less well known than David Bailey.

[Tuvok]

jno - its not paper copies - its the actual files that we get.