Author Topic: Collaboration (Read 4769 times)

surpasspro · « **on:** January 16, 2009, 12:28 »

I have several friends who shoot photos/video, but don’t submit their work to the micros. They’d rather collaborate with me to help them sell their media, than do it themselves.

Would it just be better for them to setup their own accounts and not get involved? Or, is there a business solution that makes sense where we can combine our resources and libraries? I don’t know if the accounting gets messy, figuring out who sold what, and money exchanging hands, etc.

I would like to keep our work independent, but still sell it under the same umbrella.

PeterChigmaroff · « **Reply #1 on:** January 16, 2009, 12:54 »

Things to think about;
-Who will do the accounting.
-Will the releases needed be properly acquired
-What happens if someone wants to leave with their media
-Who handles problems
-How much money should you keep for this.
-Are they good friends, they may not be after a while.

leaf · « **Reply #2 on:** January 16, 2009, 13:12 »

it would be extremely messy if you wanted to give each person credit for their sold pictures. When you get 100's or 1000's of sales a day, it will simply be too much work. Even 10 a day would be enough for a headache.

Unless you split the total income by the % of images you have or something, I can't see this really working.

zeus had some good points too, things do get complicated if you are going to try and 'share' an account.

It would be better if you owned the account and you 'rented' their pictures in some way.

avava · « **Reply #3 on:** January 16, 2009, 13:28 »

It is being done by Photo Concepts out of London and Monkey Business also out of England. It is also the way that Iophoto operate. You will have to sign over copyright to one person and there will be a lot of business skills needed to make it flow but it is being done, successfully I don't know for sure. Start small if you are going to try it and take baby steps. That would be my 2 cents worth.

Good Luck,
AVAVA

Phil · « **Reply #4 on:** January 16, 2009, 17:01 »

I'd think you want a company setup, and very clearly (legally) defined terms for everyone involved.
The tracking of sales and images would pretty quickly become a full time job for someone, and I think in a number of situations you will need 1 person with authority for decision making, (even for smaller stuff like which images fill the istock quota for the week)

the question is would the brand presence outweigh the costs?

Phil

leaf · « **Reply #5 on:** January 16, 2009, 17:05 »

Quote from: avava on January 16, 2009, 13:28

It is being done by Photo Concepts out of London and Monkey Business also out of England. It is also the way that Iophoto operate. You will have to sign over copyright to one person and there will be a lot of business skills needed to make it flow but it is being done, successfully I don't know for sure. Start small if you are going to try it and take baby steps. That would be my 2 cents worth.

Good Luck,
AVAVA

yeah, there are a few 'companines' that upload to microstock but I don't think any of them are trying to split the earnings on a per photo basis depending on what sells. As i understand them (from what little I know) It is generally one person (or company) who runs the show, and earns all the money and pays his assistants, second photograhpers, editers etc. etc..

Having one company as owner, or one person would work, but sharing an account between a few people and trying to figure out who gets which money is a total different story.

surpasspro · « **Reply #6 on:** January 16, 2009, 17:09 »

Yes, I can see combining photos into one account would get messy. If I begin anything, I was thinking about collaborating with the friend who does primarly video work. Someone who can supplement a photo shoot I put together with video. I do contribute video as well, but its not my forte.

The video person would shoot the video and edit, and I would setup the shoots, keyword and upload. I'd try to make it so that we'd put in equal time. Then perhaps setup a separate account just for video and split revenues.

I'm just trying to figure out another way of doing things while sharing the risk. Also, trying to streamline the workflow, since editing video can be time consuming.

avava · « **Reply #7 on:** January 16, 2009, 18:15 »

Hi Leaf,

All of them but Photo Concepts. They actually tracks individual sales of each photographer and pay a percentage for taking care of all the back end and helping with learning how to shoot what sells. They also have an Macro RF brand and an RM brand that allows photographers to work up the tier of models if they choose to. I am part owner of the company so I am always welcome to field any questions. Oh and I think Yuri offers a percentage deal as well.

Best,
J

qwerty · « **Reply #8 on:** January 16, 2009, 19:53 »

set up different accounts for each person, then split the income on an agreed percentage. (how you come up with a fair percentage is another question)
That would atleast make tracking individual sales a hell of a lot easier

michaeldb · « **Reply #9 on:** January 17, 2009, 12:48 »

Quote from: avava on January 16, 2009, 18:15

All of them but Photo Concepts. They actually tracks individual sales of each photographer and pay a percentage for taking care of all the back end and helping with learning how to shoot what sells. They also have an Macro RF brand and an RM brand that allows photographers to work up the tier of models if they choose to. I am part owner of the company so I am always welcome to field any questions.

I have a question, who owns the copyright of the images?

avava · « **Reply #10 on:** January 17, 2009, 16:04 »

The copyright is transfered through a contract to an individual. This contract has been specifically designed for this purpose so the original owner has no worry of copyright theft.

Best,
AVAVA

michaeldb · « **Reply #11 on:** January 17, 2009, 19:50 »

Quote from: avava on January 17, 2009, 16:04

The copyright is transfered through a contract to an individual. This contract has been specifically designed for this purpose so the original owner has no worry of copyright theft.

Best,
AVAVA

Thanks for the answer! So the individual to whom the copyright is transferred is something like a general partner in a limited partnership? The original copyright owner gives up the copyright but receives contractual guarantees that he/she will receive certain revenue from sale of intellectual property licenses? Forgive me for asking so many questions, but I find this very interesting. Is there a link you could provide to point me at the answers so you don't have to go into detail here?

tan510jomast · « **Reply #12 on:** January 18, 2009, 18:35 »

Are we forgetting the tax implications here?
If you're the one who is receiving the commissions. And it get to be significant once you are a successful . Your country's IRS will be taxing all this as your personal income, not as a partnership or a limited company.

PeterChigmaroff · « **Reply #13 on:** January 18, 2009, 20:24 »

Quote from: tan510jomast on January 18, 2009, 18:35

Are we forgetting the tax implications here?
If you're the one who is receiving the commissions. And it get to be significant once you are a successful . Your country's IRS will be taxing all this as your personal income, not as a partnership or a limited company.

I would think as long as you show a proper payment procedure to the other photographers then it becomes a tax deduction against the income. Not too different to what agencies do now. Again it is a lot of accounting work.

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Author Topic: Collaboration (Read 4769 times)

surpasspro

PeterChigmaroff

leaf

avava

Phil

leaf

surpasspro

avava

qwerty

michaeldb

avava

michaeldb

tan510jomast

PeterChigmaroff

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