How much to charge for a photo?

[Leif Goodwin]

I recently had a request to use one of my photos in a book. It is a popular photo guide to fungi. World rights for use in the book (all editions) would be £30. Is that reasonable? I'm tempted to just ask for a signed copy instead!

[Sheila Lillie]

I have no idea I suppose it would depend on how rare the fungi was as they may find it very difficult to get a photo of it.I have used your site to id fungi and your photographs are excellent,£30 seem's more like a token gesture so maybe you should ask for a signed copy of the book as well as the money and that they state it is your photograph.I must say most publishing companies do not pay a great deal as I have done botanical illustrations before for £50 each painting and they then had the copyright plus original painting but it is the personal pleasure of knowing other's will see your work.I am not sure if I have helped you here or not.

Sheila

[Leif Goodwin]

Yes, Sheila, you have helped, thank you. I agree that it is not really the financial reward, but the knowledge that the photo is of use, and liked.

[Ian Knox]

Hello Leif

Good to know that new literature is under way, I think the question of copyright should be discussed and tentatively ask photographic agencies for advice as this request could well be repeated.

I am no expert in the field but have had a few articles published in magazines in the past and your collection of fungi photography is in my own humble opinion is outstanding.

Regards

Ian

[Andreas Gminder]

Hello Leif,

I have had similar questions too when making my books, and the first of all I can say is, that the price for a foto depends on different facts. But the genrell price for a single foto lies around 20-30 Euro here in Germany. Exceptions may occure nevertheless in both directions ....

First is how many fotos they need from you. One of my field guides included appr. 1200 fotos, including a little corner foto of the biotope of the fungus. Of course they didn't pay 30 Euro for each foto in that case. I think it was something around 5 Euro then, but the total sum was not so bad (for me).
If the same editor needs a single foto or only very few, that are missing, they pay 30 Euro (usually) and for each use of the same foto in another work (not another edition of the same work) they pay 10,- Euro.
For the same book my wife made illustration, which were paid much more then the fotos (appr. 20 Euro each for 800 illus), but as Sheila said, the originals and all the rights for the illustrations lay now at the editor. They can use it for any other book they like and they can even offer them to someone else.

I gave a few fotos for an editor who made a nice book about a tourist region in East Germany (Saxony) and they wanted to show some fungi too. They gave a free book for the first foto and then 10,- Euro for each further foto they needed.

Once I had someone asking for a calender in Switzerland, they paid 50,- Euro. Last year I gave two fotos for a calender for a free exemplaire and nothing else.

The government of nature paid for illustration of the Red List and for the work about the "responsibility species" 50,- Euro for each foto. But in that case one has to say that these are usually fotos from species which are highly endangered and/or very rare.

That they credit you as author of the foto is self-understood and usually doesn't need to be stressed. In each book there is a page (called "Impressum" in German) where the editor, the Layouter, the printer etc. are mentioned and also all authors of illustrations and fotos.
And besides any honoraire for the foto, a free exemplaire is also the usual thing.

So what I would do in your case, is to accept the 30 bucks (you won't get more in Germany) and further ask for a free exemplaire.

edit: What concerns the copyright, it is usual business, that you keep the complete rights to your foto and the editor gets the right for the very work (including all further editions) but no other rights. So your fotos is still free to be sold anywhere else - except "for publications that in content and appearance are likely to compete with that work".

best regards,
Andreas

[Andreas Gminder]