Hello,

I wrote a while back to gain information about creating a work for hire agreement for all contract photography.  I thank those that responded to that request.  The information I received was very helpful.  The best resource I found was the R.A.R.I.N website.  I had used it previously, but had assistance in locating (or noticing :-) the section on sample forms from a member of this list.

I have used the commissioned photography agreement as a basis in developing our own agreement.  The following statement has been used 
verbatim from the sample:  "In consideration of payment received, I hereby acknowledge that the [name of museum] is the sole owner of any copright in all photographs produced by myself at the request of and for the Museum.  All negatives and positve exposures are the property of the  [name of museum] and will be promptly delivered to the staff member requesting photography for appropriate processing."  The agreement has been approved through the proper channels and I was asked to give a copy to the PR dept to use when hiring photographers.  PR has come back saying that the above statement is too harsh and would like the wording to be changed.  I have also used the idea in the sample to state that the photographer's name will be included on the label as "Photo by [name]".  So, I don't think that I am excluding any credit the photographer should professionally receive.  Apparently PR thinks that the photographer giving the museum full use and 'permission' to use the image in any way is sufficient and that we should not be asking for all negative and positive exposures to be 'promptly' delivered.

My question is what other museum's may have in place for such a policy (although I have already asked that before :-), how that policy is enforced, if the policy is enforced museum-wide or just by specific departments, do different departments have different policies, what others may think about this being a 'harsh' statement to use in such an agreement, and if anyone has additional suggestions of how it could be written to achieve the same outcome.  I really don't want to waiver on the front that the museum should hold copyright to the images as well as the negatives.  If the photographer should wish to use an image for their portfolio, they could always contact the museum.  I am trying to avoid confusion over the use of images and make sure that the museum doesn't have to obtain permission to use the images in our files.  This could and has caused errors in the past over what we can grant permission for and what has to have permission obtained from another party.

I truly appreciate any information and/or input I receive either on or off the list.

Thank you in advance.

Sincerely,

Julie R. Yankowsky
Rights and Reproductions Manager
Shelburne Museum
P.O. Box 10, U.S. Rt. 7
Shelburne, Vermont 05482

Tel: (802) 985-3348 ext. 3385
Fax: (802) 985-2331

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www.shelburnemuseum.org

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