| Legal
While you can take a photo, it can be illegal
to publish that photo. This mainly involves copyright and
people.
Copyright
It's Your Photo
You must own the copyright to your photo. Did you take the
photo, for yourself? If so, you're OK.
If someone else took the photo, then you don't
own the copyright and you can't license the image. This includes
pictures that you asked someone to take for you, and pictures
you found in the public domain. Also the photo should not
be a result of "work-for-hire". If someone paid
you take a photo, they may claim that the agreement transferred
the copyright to the hirer.
Artwork
Does your photo include artwork? Pictures
that feature recognizable artistic things such as paintings,
murals, photos, logos, sculptures, advertisements and cartoon
characters have an underlying copyright. Since artwork is
copyrighted material, you would need a written release from
the copyright owner to sell the image for commercial purposes.
Editorial and other fair use purposes may
be OK, and sometimes you can submit a photo for editorial
purposes only. But generally stock agencies don't want to
be limited by a photo's application. Logos are more restrictive,
as they are protected by trademark law and companies are unlikely
to grant usage.
People
Model Releases
Stock agencies and photo buyers often like people in a photo.
But for any identifiable person in your picture, you'll need
a signed model release. Some agencies only accept digital
releases, not faxed, mailed or hard copy releases.
Children
Children require a model release signed by that minor's parent
or legal guardian. This includes family snapshots or other
portraits.
Nudity
Some agencies don't accept sexual images or anything involving
nudity (including keywords such as "sexy" or "nude").
If they do, models must look at least 25 years of age and
a photo ID of the model must accompany the image.
Offensive
A stock agency would generally reject an image that could
offend a reasonable person. For example, subjects or depictions
that are abusive, degrading, defamatory, hateful, illegal,
obscene, slanderous, threatening, or vulgar.
Celebrities and Sports Teams
Famous people can prevent commercial usage of their image
with the "Right of Publicity." Sports teams, associations
and events generally don't permit unauthorized commercial
usage of their players, stadiums, sponsors and events. They
can use trademark law (for logos and names) and invasion of
privacy (if people paid admission to get in).
Quality
Stock agencies and photo buyers often require a minimum quality
both of the picture image and the digital file.
Image
The picture must be good enough to print. An agency would
reject images that are:
# Blurry (not sharp, out of focus) due to
camera shake (use a tripod) or lens focusing
# Over- or under-exposed
# Dark, muddy, have poor contrast, heavy shadows
# Noisy, or contain dust or scratches
# Upsized or downsized (images must be the original full size)
File
The digital file must have certain qualities:
Size
Agencies have minimum file size requirements. For example,
pictures should be at least 5 megapixels. Printed photos are
reproduced at approximately 300 dpi, so an 8"x10"
shot would need to be 2400 pixels x 3000 pixels, or around
7.2 mega-pixels.
Keywords
Keywords are required for searching. Keywords should be in
English only. Plants and animals should be labeled with their
scientific names. Don't use suggestive or sexual keywords
such as "teen", "nude", or "sexy".
Don't Enhance
Don't add your own information, such as a watermark, date
stamp, website name, or copyright notice. Stock photo agencies
embed their own information. Don't add frames. Don't upsize
or downsize the image.
Interesting
This is subjective, so I don't have much to say here. Photos
that sell are simple, powerful, unique, and eye-catching.
Agencies like variety so edit tightly. Don't send different
angles of the same view, or different versions of the same
shot (e.g. a black-and-white, a sepia, a cool blue, different
filters), just one version each of your very best work. Visual
portrayals of abstract themes are popular.
Why selling
my photo on-line? | How
to Sell Your Art | How
Can I Sell My Photo As A Postcard? |
How To Sell
Your Photos | Where
To Sell Your Photos | How
To Sell Your Photo To A Magazine |
How
To Put Your Photos On The Web | Photos
You Can't Sell
|
