I don't think that size of institution makes any difference. We are a small
museum and we are happy to provide photo reproductions to researchers,
writers, news media, etc. The problem is that use fees (not reproduction
fees) can be so exorbitant as to be prohibitive to authors and others. As a
small museum we charge a fee to cover our cost of reproducing the photo plus
a little more. It comes down to about $8 for an 8/10. We scanned our photo
collection (under $500 for a scanner)to avoid handling them as part of our
preservation function and in order to catalog them. We reproduce the 8x10s
in house using a digital photo printer (we paid $500 for one that allows us
to go up to 11x17, it would cost less for a smaller printer). We use the
scanner and printer all of the time for exhibits and other in-house use as
well. The $8 easily covers the cost of the photo paper we use in the
printer and the ink in the cartridge (probably around $2 per 8x10). The $6
difference compensates us for the time taken in finding and printing the
photo. In the case of photo reproductions for commercial use, we also
charge a minimal use fee. In some cases we are finding that people want the
items in a digital file so all we do is copy the file to a CD (again the
cost to us is probably around $2). If you have just a few images that are
always requested, this whole process should be much less time-consuming than
it is for us (we have over 1,000 photos).
We always expect credit when our photos are used and there is where we get
some of the good PR. We recently provided photos to a BBC production for no
charge beyond reproduction costs when another larger institution was going
to charge them a huge use fee. Guess what, we just increased our visibility
in Great Britain. Even if photo reproduction do not translate into higher
visitation, how many of us have visitation specifically stated in our
mission statements? The publication of those photos is basically a kind of
interpretation and that definitely is in many of our mission statements.
You can be sure that a listing of number of photo requests filled is an
important part of any grant proposal I write and any reports I make to our
board. You can keep your fees low, meet your costs, and improve your PR.
Steve Friesen, Director
Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave
987 1/2 Lookout Mountain Rd.
Golden, CO 80401
-----Original Message-----
From: Candace Perry [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, September 23, 2002 8:29 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Schedule of fees
John, I agree wholeheartedly...we are a small historical society also with
some very significant collections. We are a select few images that are
constantly being requested. I have not known these images to ever serve us
well from a "marketing" standpoint -- it seems that allowing these images to
be used only results in more requests for the same images!
Not long ago a major Ivy-league institution asked us to waive the fees
(which are miniscule to begin with) to use one of these very popular images.
No way. I'm delighted that people are interested in the images but it
doesn't translate to more visitation for us, or anything else for that
matter. I actually find the process truly annoying (however, if anyone out
there needs an image, I will be happy to accomodate you!)and not profitable
for us in anyway. We have a very small staff, also in a rural area, very
tight budget; making reproductions usually involves working within someone
else's deadlines -- we do our best and we need some compensation for the
effort.
Candace Perry
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