Finally, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, I thought. The other week I was approached by an online rock publication about a collaboration with me as a concert photographer. At last something happens and I might have a chance to salvage the sinking ship, sinking because of all those pesky restrictions imposed due to the Chinese affliction.
Yeah right!!!
When I recieved the agreement document they wanted me to sign the light faded instantly. They wanted exclusive rights to the images published by them and that could have been acceptable, but they wanted them without compensating me. They wanted me to provide them with unique concert photos that normally sell for between 2,000 and 5,000 USD each with exclusive rights.
Yeah, no, that ain’t gonna happen!!!
It didn’t stop there though. They wanted me to agree to surrender copyright without compensation if and when they arranged promotional shoots with artists. The usual way is that a publication (or anyone) who is an intermediary for these shoots get a finders fee, a precentage of what the photographer is paid, but the rights to the material remain with the photographer.
Yeah, no, that ain’t gonna happen either!!!
To sum it up, all I can say at this point is HELL NO!!!
