The Toronto Raptors mascot was born 27 years ago on November 3, 1995. He wears jersey number 95.
Ryan Bonne, the guy inside the costume, got the job with the Raptors just a few months after graduating from university in 1995. You won’t be surprised that he majored in theatre with a minor in sports studies.
It’s not uncommon for the subject of an editorial photo to ask the photographer for a copy of the picture that was published. Usually the person just wants a souvenir photo of themselves.
Requests for copies of published photos happened frequently when I worked for a daily newspaper. People usually wanted pictures in which they were favourably shown, for examples: winning an award, playing a sport, or taking part in an event. But that wasn’t always the case. There were a few requests that always reminded me of the importance of photography.
I remember a request for a copy of photo showing paramedics lifting an injured woman from a very bad car crash. The woman, who was covered in a blanket and her face barely visible, died later that day. The person asking for the picture was the woman’s daughter. She said she wanted the photo because it was the last picture of her mother.
Similarly a family once requested a copy of a photo showing their mother in a hospital bed waiting for a transplant which, sadly, never came.
Another time, a family requested copies of pictures of their murdered daughter’s public funeral. A year later in a follow-up TV interview, the father held a photo album with all the funeral photos and said it was their last connection to their daughter.
There are a few possible resale situations, assuming you own the copyright to the pictures and that the assigning publication doesn’t have an embargo on the images.
Photo Resale for Personal Use
The subject wants a copy of the picture as a souvenir.
When the subject requests a copy of the photo, you could e-mail them something like:
Yes, I can sell you a copy of the picture that was published in the November issue of ABCD magazine on page 40. The photo will be about 8″ x 10″ (2400 pixels x 3000 pixels). The price is $xx.00 plus tax for a total of $xx.yy. This would be payable by Interac e-transfer prior to delivery of the photo.
By purchasing a copy of the photo, you acknowledge and agree that you may use the photo only for private, personal use, which includes making prints. You also acknowledge and agree that you will not give, sell, or licence, the photo to any third party.
If you agree to these terms, you can e-transfer a total of $xx.yy to my account at xyz@my_domain.com. When I have received payment, I will e-mail the photo to you. Thank you very much.
Note that posting a photo on social media is considered to be publishing and it’s not private. You have to decide whether to allow the person to post the image online. It would probably be okay in most cases and you would adjust the text in your e-mail.
You might make the image smaller, perhaps 1500 pixels x 2100 pixels (5″ x 7″ at 300 ppi). This size is still good for most personal uses.
If there are other people in the photo, you need to state that no model releases exist.
Fill in the appropriate fields in the image file’s IPTC data. Remember to include a suitable copyright notice.
A photo for private, personal use is worth perhaps $25 to $50. But you might give them a copy of the photo for free depending on the situation.
A person might think that all unpublished photos will be discarded. They might think that the publication paid you for everything. So the person might ask for “all the extra pictures.”
You have to decide whether to sell unpublished images. Some photographers do and some don’t. If you do, you can make a bit more money. But if the person publishes the pictures, it might affect the value of your images as future editorial resales.
Photo Resale for Business Use
The subject or their employer wants a copy of the photo to use on their web site, social media or in one of their publications.
You need to know how the picture is to be used and for how long because this is a full-blown licensing issue.
A common response is that they don’t know how the picture is going to be used and they just want the photo on hand ready to use. They will be expecting a low fee because they think you’ve already been paid by the editorial publication and it takes only a few seconds to e-mail a digital file.
If the photo is for web only, you might downsize the image to a suitable size but tell them this ahead of time.
If there are people in your photo, you need to state that no model releases exist.
You don’t control how a company will use the photo(s) so you can’t be held liable for publishing. So you should mention that you’re not liable for any problems (i.e. claims, liabilities, damages, costs, or legal fees) that might arise when the photo is published.
You also need to say that the photo is for their use only and the photo may be not be given or sold to any third party and may not be used or published by any third party. Depending on the situation, you may also have to say that the photo may not be used for any type of advertising or paid placements. However if the photo could be used for advertising, you should adjust your pricing for this.
Remember to fill in all the appropriate IPTC fields.
This is worth hundreds to thousands of dollars depending on the corporate usage. It’s worth more if the photo is used for advertising.
When not to sell
What if someone other than the subject wants to buy a copy of the photo or copies of unpublished images?
You have to be careful here.
If you sell to third parties that are not editorial publications, it might be considered as being commercial resales. So you may need model releases or other releases.
A daily newspaper at which I once worked originally sold photos to anyone who had a credit card number. Without going into detail, there were several problems that arose including privacy issues and copyright infringement. Suffice to say, the newspaper’s lawyer shut it down and only copies of published photos were sold only to the people in the pictures.
Page Reprints
Reprints, notably magazine reprints, were a lucrative business since the 1970s. But with fewer printed magazines and more online-only publications, the demand for reprints has gone down. Reprints exist both as paper prints and as e-prints (PDFs).
When a company is favourably featured in a high-profile editorial publication like the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Globe and Mail, Time magazine, or Macleans magazine, to name just a few, that company may want reprints of the article to send to its customers and investors and to display on its web site.
A reprint is like a brochure which means it’s no longer editorial. It’s a marketing tool used to promote a business. Any advertising and unrelated content that were on the original page(s) are removed and the publication’s banner is added.
If your photo was in the original published article, the company might want that same photo included in the reprints. The editorial publication should contact you and request a quote to use your photo in the reprints. Corporate reprints should not be included in your original assignment fee because reprints are not editorial.
Your reprint fee can range from hundreds of dollars to a few thousand dollars depending on the number of photos and the number of reprints requested. Sometimes reprints will be produced without any photos because the customer doesn’t want to pay for the pictures.
The editorial publication is responsible for getting the reprints produced. This might be done in-house or it will be sent to a printer that specializes in reprints. Rest assured that the editorial publication will charge the customer handsomely.
