What's a fair license deal for a photo?

[Andreas]

Hello fellow smart people,

The universe brought me a new opportunity a few days ago, and I'd really appreciate all your feedback on this. Basically, I got an email from someone who says they're making an educational game, and wants to use a photo from my gallery (which is Byteful Gallery).

He wants to know how he can get the right to use the photo.

Since I've never licensed a photo before, I thought I'd stop by here and ask what you guys think. Since he's making a video game to sell, I was thinking of asking for a (very) small percentage of revenue, since that seemed fair. But I suppose how much was fair would depend on how prominently and how often my photo was used. And perhaps I should charge him some money up front. But how much?

Perhaps I need to ask more questions before I can arrange a deal with him. What should I ask in my reply to his message? I suppose I should find out if he's an independent game maker or part of a larger company, and to see some of his other work in case it would reflect negatively on my brand.

What do you think guys?

thanks!

[SnerpGoodWord]

I would charge a one time fee - since you will have no real say in the game's success or failure, I see no reason to tie your compensation to that.

What you choose to charge will depend of course on how much you value your time and think he will pay.

[aiyori]

I guess your Adsense CTR must be very high.
If they are not asking for the exclusive right, which means you can sell it to other people if you wish, then I think a one time fee of $10 plus full website name credit is enough.
If I pay $1000 for someone to take 100 photos, how many job applicants do you think I'll get? And it's not difficult to find someone who is willing to DRAW a picture for $10. So $10 is a fair price, or should I say attractive price? If they pay more than $10, then you should love them.

[iDreamCatcher]

He wouldn't go for any percentages I suspect.
There are so many royalty free images on so many stock photo sites available these days so I don't think it is possible to get much money.
He'll just look elsewhere.

I'd ask for few $100's ...

[Curtis2011]

Originally Posted by iDreamCatcher

I'd ask for few $100's ...

I agree.

[rwarlick]

how difficult would it be to reproduce this photo, or restage the event... is it a rare orchid bloom (occurs once every hundred years, you'd charge alot for this, maybe thousands) or is it something more common?

it'd try to find out why he chose this shot, ask him. If there's some deep emotional tie, he just HAS to have this picture, you might get away with more.

i'd aim REALLY high, and he'll probably counter. i'm surprised no one has asked to see the photo - please show it!

congratulations - this must be very exciting for you!

rod

[ellie]

I agree around the $200 mark. Getty images, sells commercial photography for around that price. Check out the going rates for photos on there.

I also agree if you think too much about it, and think you're going to make lots of $$$ then don't. They can most probably go elsewhere I go to istock and pay $20-30 for a licence.

[noitcefrep]

This depends on a variety of factors.

In what medium will they be using the image? Exclusive rights? Can they use it for anything they want? Do you get credit? Do you call yourself a professional? Have you other published photos? What is the revenue of the business you're dealing with? Many, many questions to be asked here. I think this question would be better asked here:

Photography Business forum from Photo.net
(if linking to other forums is prohibited, please delete post)

[Dharma]

Licensing Guide | American Society of Media Photographers

[Andreas]

Thanks for the feedback so far, guys!
Really good points there.

To answer some of your questions:

He isn't asking for exclusivity, he just wants the photo for an educational game that he and a programmer he knows is making. The details aren't so important as the fact that my photo will be the Main Focus of the game.

Either way, I'm going to ask for credit on their website... if they have a website...

Dharma, thanks for the ASMP link. Good info. Technically this would be using an image that I previously used in an editorial way (in one of my travel articles) but now it's going to be used in a commercial way.

I'd better ask them if they're actually going to sell this game, and if they have an idea for how much. Anyway, I get the feeling this is the first time these two have worked together to make a game, so I'm starting to doubt profit sharing will be worth it.

I'll see if I can find out more about their vision for the game...

[Creative]

What a wonderful opportunity- I had a similar thing happen to me too and here is the book where my photo was used for the cover.

I was lucky as I was basically told what they could offer me and it was around the $50 dollar mark. As they were an Indian company it is a lot of money for them, and I was pleased for a credit and a couple of copies for myself. Go with what you feel comfortable with. More opportunities will appear

[Nemo]

Originally Posted by Andreas

He isn't asking for exclusivity, he just wants the photo for an educational game that he and a programmer he knows is making.

They probably don't have much money then, and wouldn't ask too much.

Have you considered selling your photos on some of the stock agencies?

[Creative]

I love the Sapphire Spheres wallpaper- it is beautiful!

[MartialDev]

I would look to the standard licensing terms at iStockPhoto.com as a template.