Just to add to David's good advice, I'll take a stab at this as well. First
off, I'm one of two full-time photographers in a museum that does have an
in-house studio/lab. Work-for-hire is unpopular with a majority of
commercial photographers these days...it goes against their current business
mode which is more or less geared to "licensing usage rights" of an image
back to their clients. This is really how they make money, not so much from
the initial fees, but from the usage after the fact. So, there can be
problems in some ways, because you probably want to steer clear of having a
contracted worker using imagery of your collection, or whatever subject
matter, in another business transaction....a hypothetical case would be if
you contracted me to shoot a photo of let's say your widgets, and I in turn
agree to certain uses for your institution...like unlimited use for in-house
publications and promo materials....BUT, I kept the copyright & retained
"some" of the originals. Say, I turn around and sell these off as stock in
the future....like I said hypothetical situation, but could cause some
problems in regards to donor records etc.

To me, a classic work-for-hire contract (and I'd suggest getting up with a
lawyer before drafting any contracts...I am NOT a lawyer.....)has the
photographer as an employee of the client. Everything they produce becomes
the property of the client. This can be tricky with photographers because of
the amount of overhead as far as equipment, assistants, insurance, liability
insurance etc. goes. None of this is cheap by any means, so I imagine that
any resistance you might get to the contract, would stem from this kind of
business plan....for instance, a "day rate" just covers the guy showing up
more or less, any type of use would be figured out in addition.

Now, as a staffer on the "inside", what I might suggest would be actually
contracting with someone to do the job, or jobs....you supply all the
materials and processing etc. If you can supply the camera equipment as
well, then this person literally becomes your employee....Now most
commercial people will not want to work this way. But the only reason why
someone would retain all the film after the fact, is because they might have
plans (without really knowing them at the time) in the future. If they need
copies for their portfolios, then bend over backwards to accomodate
them....don't approach it as if they are asking too much, of being hard to
deal with. But, if you hold the originals, and the rights, then they are
yours....it also would not surprise me if someone kept the outtakes as well,
for their files, but then again, if the copyright has been transferred to
the institution, what good are they (the out takes) in a business sense?

As for credit lines, as an employee I never get bent out of shape about not
having my name on a credit....I know some people have a different mindset
about this, but to me the institution owns everything...every scrap of
equipment, film, utilities-- you name it...I'm on salary, I AM in a
"work-for-hire" agreement.....the institution gets the credit, I get my
paycheck....the only times it bothers me is when a non-photographer, but
also a staffer, gets an image in print & the byline is there....no offense,
but if the credit is to be used on a so-so image, it reflects upon me as
well....but I digress.....

So, yeah, I agree with David in that you need to put it in writing, and get
the usages hammered out up front. If you deal with professionals, they are
more likely to approach all this as a business agreement...the downside to
this is that an agreement like this may make the individuals give you high
bids....and most non-profits may balk at them....there's an excellent little
book called "The Law in Plain English for Photographers" by Leonard DuBoff,
and then the "ASMP Business Guide". Between those 2 books, you can get a
good idea about work agreements and copyright....but again, you need to get
a lawyer in on this as well.

I don't think you're alone, as alot of places do not have their own photo
staff.....but if you find yourselves in this situation alot, it may be a
good reason to create a new position, or at least a part-time job....

Hope this helps is some way,

Kent Thompson,  Photographer
North Carolina Museum of History

Email: [log in to unmask]
Opinions expressed in this message may not represent the policy of my
agency.

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).